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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Production of ‘The
Elephant Man’ Exquisitely Beautiful<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I>7/16/10</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The elephant in the
room during every production of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The
Elephant Man</I> is whether the title character’s extreme physical deformity can
be convincingly portrayed using only voice and body language, as the playwright
requests.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>No makeup. No
prosthetics. No stage magic.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In the Summer Stages’ production,
which opened last week at the Factory Theater in downtown Cleveland, this
challenge belongs to actor Eric Perusek.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Early in the play, when we are first
introduced to John Merrick, his grotesqueness is put on display before a panel
of Victorian physicians.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As each
biological abnormality is itemized with British precision and described in
clinical detail, Perusek’s exposed and perfectly normal physique slowly absorbs
and painstakingly adopts each abominable anomaly.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Before our eyes he becomes the Elephant
Man.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The dramatic impact of this remarkable
and complete transformation is bested only by Perusek’s ability to sustain this
agonizing posture for the duration of the evening while simultaneously
communicating Merrick’s intelligence, gentility and
perspective.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This singular performance is
reflective of the sustained excellence that has become the trademark of
Cleveland State University’s four year old professional summer theater repertory
program.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bernard Pomerance's Tony Award-winning
Dickensian drama is based on the true life story of a young man who, in the
late-19<SUP>th</SUP> century, goes from being a freak show attraction to the
protected ward of a London Hospital.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Under the supervision and best
intentions of Dr. Frederick Treves, played with passion and precision by Geoff
Knox, Merrick finds a more dignified but similarly tragic and controlled
existence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He goes from being a
social outcast to a high society curiosity, admired for his God-given internal
beauty by the wealthy and the aristocracy whose store-bought allure merely runs
skin deep.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The play’s dialogue is often lyrical
and an absolute pleasure to listen to, complemented by live cello music
performed by Maake Harding between scenes.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Occasionally, the verbiage ventures into the synthetic realms of over
sentimentality and melodrama, as when Merrick suggests that ''my head is so big
because it is full of dreams.'' <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>However, Perusek as Merrick and Knox as
Treves handle this with grace and charm.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The play also offers rather
heavy-handed social commentary, such as when Merrick grows increasingly ill as
he becomes progressively socialized. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is nicely managed with
understatement by director Everett Quinton, who has created just the right tone
and the proper pace for this production.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The Elephant Man</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> is told through a series of brief and
poignant vignettes, which chronicle key moments in Merrick’s life.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Russ Borski’s sparse set, divided into
three sections that constitute Merrick’s parlor, bedroom and the doctor’s
office, facilitates the impression that each scene is the equivalent of the
audience peeking through the divides in a filthy sideshow tent curtain,
capturing glimpses of the different human atrocities on display.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Superb performances
by the play’s leads are matched by the other players, including Tom Woodward as
Merrick’s carnie handler, George Roth as the hospital administrator who serves
as Dr. Treves’ handler, and Ursula Cataan as Mrs. Kendall, the theater diva who
befriends Merrick.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The most touching
moment in the play—a play saturated with such moments—comes at the end of Act I
when the beauty and the beast dare to touch hands, introducing Merrick to his
first taste of gentility and femininity.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This is a gripping
play, an engrossing production, and the first in a series of three offerings in
repertory over the next five weeks. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Summer Stages is off to a very good
start.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Elephant
Man</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">,
the musical <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Curtains</I> and the comedy
</SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Oh Dad, Poor Dad,
Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad,</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> continue in
repertory </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">through
August 5</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
at the Factory Theater on East 24<SUP>th</SUP> Street in downtown
Cleveland.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, $10 to $15,
call 216-687-2109 or visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#0095a1>http://csu.ticketleap.com</FONT></A>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p><FONT
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