Bradley Cooper as The Elephant Man

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

bradley cooper

Bradley Cooper returns to the role of disfigured London celebrity Joseph Merrick – better known as The Elephant Man for a three month run on the West End.

Although The Elephant Man is expressionistic in style, it is based on true historical events. Joseph Merrick (referred to as “John” in the play) suffered from a condition that no one had properly recognised. After being toured around the UK and Europe under the not-too-flattering title, he is rescued by surgeon Frederick Treves who studied him at the London Hospital in White Chapel up until Merrick’s death in 1890.

The play, written by Bernard Pomerance, premiered at the Booth Theater on Broadway in April 1979 and returned there for a much-lauded revival last winter. It has garnered 4 Tony Award nominations, including one for Bradley for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. There are also nods for fellow leads, Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola and for Best Rvival.

As the script instructs, Bradley declines make up and prosthetics. Instead he contorts his body and his face, adding layers of speech as he gulps and gasps to communicate through mishappen lips.

Director Scott Ellis stages an anatomy lesson with Treves addressing his students in front of a full length photograph of the near-naked Merrick and Bradley performs a mimed illustration of the lecture.

In her Variety review, Marilyn Stasio writes : “as Nivola’s Treves dispassionately drones on about his subject’s twisted limbs and misshapen torso, Cooper stands stock still in a cone of light and silently contorts his own perfect body into an approximation of each deformity. The piece de résistance is the depiction of the wide slobbering aperture that is Merrick’s mouth. Shaping his own mouth into a fleshy oval, the thesp gives expressive voice to the sensitive and intelligent human being imprisoned in his own body. It’s a stunning performance, deeply felt and very moving”.

Bradley returened to normal to greet fans at the stage door barriers on opening night.

Patricia Clarkson in The Elephant Man

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Patricia Clarkson The Elephant Man

The 2014 Broadway revival of THE ELEPHANT MAN opened at the Booth Theatre for a 13 week run with Bradley Cooper in the title role, transferring to London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket this year until early August. The production also featured Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola also in the lead roles. All three have received Tony nominations for next month’s Awards ceremony.

Written by American playwright Bernard Pomerance in 1977, it is based on the real-life story of Joseph (‘John’ in the play) Merrick, a grotesquely deformed young man, who was a freak show attraction in the 19th Century. He is rescued from the squalor by Frederick Treves, a renowned surgeon who offers him shelter and comfort for his short life in a private London hospital.

Patricia plays the high-society English actress Madge Kendal, who befriends Merrick, helping him to embrace Victorian society before his ailments defeat him. In his Broadway review for The Hollywood Reporter David Rooney wrote about Patricia: “Her tender performance is an exquisite rendering of artful layers, at its most poignant in a scene in which she shows that her humanity trumps her coded sense of property. There’s a lovely, understated erotic tension in her interactions with both Merrick and Treves.”

Patricia’s impressive credentials have made her a very much demand character actor, including diverse roles in THE GREEN MILE (1999), THE STATION AGENT (2003), VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (2009) and PIECES OF APRIL (2003) for which she received an Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination. On the small screen she won two Emmy Awards for her recurring guest role as the free-spirited Sarah O’Connor in the TV series SIX FEET UNDER.

I meet Patricia at the Theatre Royal Haymarket’s stage door after the opening performance on 19 May, where she signed and dedicated my sketch.

Drawing: Sir Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot at Haymarket Theatre Royal

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Yes, Gandalf himself, Sir Ian McKellen signed for me in February 2010. He was performing in Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket Theatre Royal. Lovely man, great play.