George Brant's Elephant's Graveyard sounds like kind of a strange mix of different elements. It's the real-life story of a circus elephant killing someone in small town America in 1916 and then being put to death for it. Brant attempts to expand on the real life story and put it in a transcendent allegorical context, which various critics have enjoyed or disliked to various levels.
The subject matter of the play is interesting without question. There's a local staging of it this weekend. What makes this particular production interesting is that it's part of First Stage Children's Theatre's Company Class. So it's all kids performing what is actually a very, very serious play about death and performance and . . . well . . . quite a lot of other things. Kids performing this kind of thing could really cast an interesting light on it.
The show is directed by Youngblood Theatre co-founder Michael Cotey.
First Stage Theatre Academy's staging of George Brant's Elaphant's Graveyard runs August 9th and 10th at Youth Arts Hall in the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. Both shows start at 7pm. Admission is free. The show is 70 minutes long.
