An Elephant in the room

Posted on 21st June 2024

Feast Theatre’s mission statement is to bring theatre to the villages and towns of Norfolk, placing a heavy emphasis on stories rooted in the region. Having previously seen the excellent Canada Boys ( notwithstanding its title a play about two Wymondham lads) and the equally strong Hollyhock Trilogy, I was keen to finding out what the company had next in store, not least given the mysterious title.

Elephant features four mismatched individuals, holed up in a house on the very edge of the North Norfolk coast. Their fractious quarrelling and disquieting ruminations felt like Sartre’s No Exit rewritten by Joe Orton, the crumbling disintegration of the cliff top house a clear metaphor for the fragile emotions and unstable relationships explored. The strength of this production is a foundation of Jeremy Page’s writing buttressed by strong performances from the ensemble cast. Robin McLoughin portrayal of Mannie is a sympathetic take on a man-child in denial, while Ben Farrier plays Lee Farrier as the archetypical wide boy, a man of low cunning and simple pleasures. Henri Merriam grapples with the challenge of investing unlikeable, petulant Jessie with humanity, while Rachael Cummins – unrecognisable from her recent pantomime performance at the Corn Hall – brings an unnerving otherworldly quality to Cally.

To say more about the title of this play would be to spoil a big reveal, but I can say it is intimately connected with the abiding theme of the fragile impermanent of times past and future. Jeremy Page’s play is a complex, labyrinthine exploration of grown up issues for a grown up audience. At the time when commercial spaces are dominated by juke box musicals and heritage thrillers, it’s a small miracle there is still a home for intelligent theatre in the provincial corners of our county.