Directed by Youngblood Theatre co-founder Michael Cotey, Elephant's Graveyard came across like a solidly- produced studio theatre show on a shoestring budget that just happened to feature an ensemble consisting entirely of kids. This was a show staged at the end of class--a summer theatre class for kids through First Stage. Typically when looking at things critically, you take things on their own merits--you don't quibble with a musical over the fact that it's a musical. And you don't criticize a children's show for being a children's show. But with Cotey choosing this particular drama and staging it the way he did, I didn't really have to make those concessions. It was a solidly constructed and solidly executed story.
There wasn't exactly a set. Costuming was largely in black with hints of red. Interesting choices considering the subject matter of the drama. Elephant's Graveyard tells the true story of a traveling circus visiting a small town in the early 20th century. Before the emergence of mass media, circuses were big entertainment in small towns. Everyone came out to see the parade and everyone saw an elephant kill its rider. And so everyone demanded that the elephant be put to death. And everyone watched that too.
So it's an ensemble show. Many different characters with drastically different personalities all telling the story to the audience in alternating monologues. The plot is simple and straightforward. It's not brilliantly written, but it's a really sharp show for a big ensemble. And with the number of students in the program, the staging of the story wasn't lacking in size.
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The range of different characters gave the acting ensemble a lot of different elements to work with. There was a tremendous amount of potential in the cast that Cotey was working with here. Joey Flegel-Mishlove played the Ringmaster in the performance I saw. (There were two performances the other had Maxwell Zupke as Ringmaster) He was the one performer I'd seen elsewhere having seen I'm perform improv with Organized Chaos during the Milwaukee Comedy Festival. He makes an impression there. Here he shows a really good grasp of drama that exhibits a respectable amount of depth. The somber chi ism of the character is definitely there in Flegel-Mishlove's performance.
The most interesting perspective on the life and death of this elephant came from the trainer, who knew more about the elephant's basic nature than anyone else involved n the story. Throughout the text, the character is referred to as a guy. . . a short guy. He's even called, "Shorty." So this tall girl named Mackenzie Swart played the role the night I saw the show. (Played on the other performance by Charleigh Trecek) And she played it with the kind of deeply resonant compassion that makes her utterly believable in the role even though she looks nothing like her description in the context of the play.
Rosie Goodman also preforms a male role without flinching as the Tour Manager who keeps his mind almost completely on the basic functions of the operation throughout. She carried off the businesslike intensity of the role quite well. Henry Lynch has no problem developing the right accent as the circus' immigrant strongman--not only playing the emotions of the character in a believable way, but also playing someone meant to Eugen Sandow-type guy ten times as big as he was. Liz McNeil Emma Tower and Nina Rubnitz were playing ballet girls--the roles written to be very sensual and sympathetic. This is a very difficult kind of thing to bring off being at the age these girls were, but they exhibited the kind of fearless confidence in the roles that made them work quite well in the larger ensemble. As being performers who worked with the unseen elephant in a stage capacity, they needed to appear both casually charismatic and completely comfortable alongside the several ton elephant who was NOT actually in the room. Not an easy thing to do. I think they nailed it pretty well. And though we never see the central character in the production, the presence of the elephant was felt quite distinctly, which might have been the single most impressive bit that Cotey and company managed with this two-show production.
A show woven together by monologues is a really good chance for students to explore some of the more basic elements of characterization. The performances mentioned above (and so many others like them in the production) were all excellent learning opportunities for the kids. It's fun to see the basic dynamics of stage performance begin to develop, particularly in a very serious drama like this that is about the sanctity of life and the nature of our relationship to it. Cotey was really sharp to have chosen it. That it was also a really good show is indicative of what younger, less experienced actors can do when there's the right atmosphere to develop natural talents.
Elephant's Graveyard ran for one weekend only. First Stage's first official show of the 2013-2014 season is Shrek the Musical which runs October 11th through November 17th. For more information, visit First Stage online.
