An Exceptional Show of Finely Crafted Acting

The setting for this revival of Pomerance's 1970s play about the hideously deformed John Merrick has been pared back to a Victorian London Hospital minimum, putting Bradley Cooper's Merrick centre stage.

The scene is all set for the opportunity to overcook this delicate and gentle role that explores the man behind the deformed exterior as much as the actions of those who care for him.

It is no wonder then that Cooper was nominated for Best Lead Actor in the 2015 Tony Awards when The Elephant Man played Broadway before coming to London. His is a finely crafted performance that speaks little but says volumes, acting along a tightrope of balance between creating the physical presentation of deformity while at the same time expressing the emotional depths of a man so wretchedly abused.

His balance between these often conflicting demands wobbles in some scenes but comes good when sharing a moment of delicate intimacy with the wonderful Mrs Kendal and the telling exchanges with his physician, Dr Treves.

The play moves swiftly through the story which intensifies the concentration on the smaller details of the performance. The deformed face slurs Merrick's speech, but the voice is gentle, humourous and insightful. Merrick moves from rags and stench to a sliver topped cane and a fine suit, while at the same time his life whithers and ends. And at the very passing of his last breath, having been feted by the best in the land and raised up from a place of unimaginable darkness, still his attendant runs from the chamber shouting 'The Elephant Man is dead'.

We warm to John Merrick's character the more it is revealed and though his deformity is just a figment of our imaginations, encouraged by Cooper's fine physical acting, we wonder how could anyone endure that degree of abuse and rejection and still remain human. No doubt Cooper has experienced some of the same gawping fascination of the crowd as a Hollywood player, but for all the opposite reasons.

As we go to press the Tony Award didn't fall Cooper's way, going instead to a previously unknown British actor making his Broadway debut. Which just goes to show that the gawping crowd is a fickle thing, easily distracted and quick to leave behind the discarded. But for those lucky enough to get tickets for this short run, the haunting memory of Merrick's gentle humanity will stay a long while.

View our show pages for more information about The Elephant Man, Theatre Royal Haymarket.