The Elephant Man London Review

As I have mentioned before I am a big theatre fan, but I don't tend to write about it much as I am in no way an expert in this area and I generally write about working in the event industry. Having said this I got a lot of positive feedback from the last review I wrote and in a way theatre is like a unique type of event - with an audience every day and a slick and organised show to put on 8 times a week, I am sure it's not as easy as it looks! I might put a little theatre review up every month or so, just as a little side project.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to see a performance of The Elephant Man at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. The only real reason I went to see the play is that I had heard great things about Bradley Cooper from his run on Broadway and let's face it... it's Bradley Cooper!

The play stars Cooper in the title role as The Elephant man, also known as Joseph Merrick. Now I didn't know too much about the story to begin with and I won't go into too much detail here, but what I will say is that the physically demanding aspects of the role were quite incredible, Cooper contorted and twisted his body throughout the whole play, never breaking character once - it was quite astonishing. His English accent was also very impressive, he managed to take the audience on a journey of pity, admiration, hope and ultimately pain. It is a very special performance and it's easy to see why is he an oscar nominated actor.

Whilst Bradley Cooper has top billing there are also some huge names starring alongside him. You can see Patricia Clarkson as Mrs Kendal who is both charming and compassionate bringing some much needed humour to the play without being tacky. Alessandro Nivola put on a remarkable performance as Frederick Treeves, the talented yet struggling Doctor who takes the Elephant Man under his wing. Overall the entire cast as an ensemble were extremely talented and although the play can be a bit heavy the commitment and passion every single cast member displays keeps you interested until the very end. 

The play is on a limited run and I would definitely recommend getting tickets if you can. The cast is world class and whilst not an uplifting or fast paced play it is thought provoking and and in a way inspiring, definitely a master class in this field. It does leave me wondering how the cast find the energy to play such dramatic performances every evening but again may be a reason as to why it has a such a short run, like I said it's worth seeing and has definitely given me a greater appreciation of the work that goes into putting on a performance 8 shows a week.