Saul Jaffé Reviews

Review: The Elephant Man

August 17, 2008

www.whatsonstage.com

C Soco (348)

*****

Beautifully heart-breaking – a spectacular achievement in theatre. This new adaptation explores the inspiring life of John Merrick and the loneliness and discrimination which accompanied his deformity. Proteus’ The Elephant Man is a perfect production.

Actor and co-writer Saul Jaffé delivers a breath taking performance. Jaffé creates an array of characters effortlessly. Revealing himself in a flurry of friendliness and charm, we are immediately drawn to him. With his poise, comic timing and charisma he radiates presence. However it is not until Jaffé’s transformation into Merrick that the true magnificence of his skill is revealed. Approaching the audience Jaffé explains how “the monster pushed it’s way out of me”. Following is a physical mutation that hypnotises the audience. From lip to jaw to neck to shoulders to legs Jaffé’s body looses into Merrick. There is no need for make up or masks. Using nothing more than his body Jaffé transforms.

Visionary director Mary Swan expresses Merrick’s precious moments of liberation and happiness through movement and acrobatics Jaffé performs on a hanging trapeze. The power of this play hits you like a force in your gut. The emotions driving the story remain with you for hours after stepping out of the theatre. Strong collaboration between actor and director during this project’s development is clear. Jaffé artfully portrays John Merrick with conviction and grace. A triumphant performance – intelligent, elegant & poignant.

Coupled with Swan’s direction, Jaffé’s performance and a stylish script, The Elephant Man’s design make it a five star masterpiece. Combining puppetry, shadows and symbolism, designer Sam Pine captures our imagination. In one scene Jaffé adopts the role of Merrick’s stepmother who whips him mercilessly: a broken tailor’s dummy symbolises Merrick. The entire play is filled with sparks of visual genius such as this. In these moments I watched and could not help but exhale at the commendable intelligence and imagination with which this production was created. Paul Wild’s powerful music completes the perfect quality of Proteus’ visionary project.

Breathtaking – The Elephant Man deserves to be seen by everyone.

- Beth Friend

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The Elephant Man

By Mary Swan and Saul Jaffé

Proteus

C SoCo

*****

In Proteus's one-man adaptation of the life of Joseph (the doctor, for some reason, called him John, but he was born Joseph Carey) Merrick — 'The Elephant Man' — Saul Jaffé appears in the middle of the audience and starts to chat to them as the head of the circus where Merrick was a 'freak' act getting to know his audience. The story then unfolds as Jaffé smoothly moves between playing this character, Merrick, the doctor who treated him and several other characters, plus a non-specific narrator character.

Jaffé moves between characters not as an actor changing from playing one part to playing another, but more as a storyteller illustrating his story with some characterisations, but this doesn't mean that the characters are not fully acted out. Quite the contrary; he distorts himself both physically and vocally sometimes to play Merrick, but at other times he plays him without these distortions, and his changes to himself to create other characters are often subtle but there is never any confusion about whom he is.

The actor works the audience better than many stand-up comics on the Fringe. At the reviewed performance, he had a very small and quiet but appreciative audience, but this did not seem to throw him at all, and he certainly created a great deal of good-natured banter with a latecomer.

There are some beautiful touches to the production, such as the dove that seems to appear out of a piece of cloth manipulated like a puppet on the death of Merrick's five-year-old brother, or the mixing of colours on the overhead projector after Merrick is robbed and abused on his European tour. Jaffé does stand-up comedy, physical acrobatics on a trapeze, academic lectures and more down-to-earth explanations using audience participation and a water melon. The story jumps about and the production jumps between styles of performance, but it all seems to flow perfectly naturally.

In a stuffy, hot room at C SoCo where the traffic noise is almost as loud as out on the street, Jaffé still managed to keep the attention of this small audience for more than an hour in a performance that is sometimes hilariously funny and sometimes moving and touching, with a heartbreaking ending. He seemed to be taken by surprise when the audience continued to sit and clap until he came out for a second curtain call, which was certainly deserved.

David Chadderton

(The British Theatre Guide)

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The Elephant Man

Proteus Theatre Company

Why go and see 'The Elephant Man'? Because it's thought-provoking, provides a remarkable insight into the life of the Victorian celebrity, and there's a trapeze. And a melon. Saul Jaffé gives an inspired performance in this one-man show, switching seamlessly between the characters of Joseph Merrick, his 'freak show' employer, and the doctor who becomes fascinated by him. Assumed to be an imbecile, Merrick shows wit as he tells his surgeon that if he wants him as a specimen, he will need a rather large jar. Despite the humour, the play challenges us to think about our own attitudes to body image, and how this is still relevant in today's society. This is not just entertaining, but enlightening.

C soco, 30 Jul - 25 Aug (not 11 or 18), 4.45pm (6.05pm), prices vary, fpp 197

tw rating: 5/5

published: Aug-2008

[Rachel Gray]

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Fest Mag

Written by: Charlotte Mitchell

Published: Sun 17 Aug 2008

This one-man show is based on the true story of Joseph Maverick – a freak of Victorian society due to the extraordinary facial features which lent him a grotesque elephant-like appearance.

Saul Jaffé is amazingly talented in bringing to life the various characters, sometimes with the aid of simple trapeze acrobatics. The hilarious and engaging proprietor, who welcomes us to the show and even indulges in some quick-witted stand-up, also provides light relief from the more serious issues of the main story. Then there is Joseph Merrick himself, and with a green velvet smoking jacket as the only change in costume, it is a huge credit to Jaffé’s acting skills that he vividly recreates the gross deformities and painful experiences from which the character suffers.