The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man leads autumn season at Nottingham Playhouse
The cast and creative team behind Nottingham Playhouse’s autumn season headline production, The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man, have been revealed.
It will be the European premiere of the drama, written by Tom Wright, and will run from September 16 to October .
Told from Joseph Merrick’s perspective, it portrays a man set apart from others, trying to find his place and voice in a society that values conformity.
It follows him from his East Midlands beginnings to a London thick with the grime of industrialisation, through the workhouse, the freakshow and hospital as he searches for acceptance in a society that just wants to stare at him. .
The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man examines capitalism, industrialisation, disability and difference.
Finally putting Joseph at the centre of his own story, it rejects the myth of his powerlessness, often portrayed in previous interpretations and transforms him into an agent of his own worth.
The cast is composed of all disabled, deaf and/or neurodivergent actors, and leading them as Joseph Merrick is Zak Ford-Williams, who previously played Tiny Tim in the Playhouse production of A Christmas Carol.
Director Stephen Bailey said: “With pulsating live music and stunning visuals, we’re staging this epic fable centering Joseph in his own story for the first time.”
“Tom Wright has written a bold, inspired restyling of Joseph's unique life that sees him not as a medical specimen but a man. The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man uses beautiful, poetic text to ask probing questions about work, industrialisation and the value of life.
“It's not about inspiration or pity: it's about the reality of how we look at those who are the other. In the current cost of living crisis, it asks if seeing humans solely as workers is compatible with transformed bodies and long-term health conditions. I'm thrilled to be given the platform to tell this story, and to have Nottingham Playhouse backing an ambitious production featuring some of the UK's finest disabled talent.”
Zak Ford-Williams said: “I cannot wait to return to Nottingham Playhouse and allow audiences into the incredible, haunting world of the play. I was transfixed by The Real and Imagined History of The Elephant Man from the moment I read it. Then as soon as I experienced Stephen’s vision, precision and warmth for the play I was desperate to be on board. It’s a challenge and a gift of a role.”
The cast also includes Annabelle Davis, Daneka Etchells, Killian Thomas Lefevre, Nadia Nadarajah, and Tim Pritchett.
