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MST STAGED READING: ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD
SHOW DATE: MAY 8TH
SHOW TIMES: SATURDAY MATINEE PERFORMANCE AT 2:00PM, SATURDAY EVENING PERFORMANCE AT 7:30 PM
A PLAY BY GEORGE BRANT
In September of 1916, a traveling circus arrived in the small town of Erwin, Tennessee — and what followed would become one of the most haunting and disturbing events in American history. When Mary, a five-ton circus elephant, killed an inexperienced handler during a parade through town, the community's hunger for spectacle and vengeance took a terrifying turn. Tried by the court of public opinion and condemned by a town consumed by fear and hysteria, Mary was sentenced to death — and hanged from a railroad crane before a crowd of thousands.
George Brant's award-winning play weaves together historical fact and legend to reconstruct the events of that fateful day through the voices of those who were there — circus performers, townspeople, and bystanders — each offering their own perspective on the tragedy that unfolded. Told through poetic, haunting language and a powerful ensemble structure, Elephant's Graveyard is not merely the story of an elephant's death, but a searing examination of mob mentality, the American craving for violence and revenge, and the deeply human capacity to rationalize cruelty in the name of justice.
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Winner of the 2008 Keene Prize for Literature and the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award, Elephant's Graveyard is a cautionary tale that resonates long after the curtain falls.
Running time: T.B.A.
Please be advised: Elephant's Graveyard contains themes of mob mentality, violence, and social injustice, as well as depictions of animal cruelty and death, public execution, and hysteria. The production also includes strong language and intense, disturbing imagery. Recommended for ages 13 and up, parental discretion is advised.
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Shows Similar to Elephant’s Graveyard: The Elephant Man, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible and The Laramie Project
Praise for ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD:
“Buzzes with truth about the consequences of misunderstanding, the invisible but enormous gap between artists and their audiences, and the infernal beauty of vaudeville.” – The Stranger, Seattle
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“The script—based on a true story about a traveling circus that, in 1916, stumbled into gory disaster in a muddy Tennessee town—is, like the best art, microscopically specific with echoes that radiate outward across time. It conjures a world with its own atmosphere and terrible internal logic. It's mesmerizing... symphonic in its emotional variations on a tragic theme. Elephant's Graveyard buzzes with truth about the consequences of misunderstanding, the invisible but enormous gap between artists and their audiences, and the infernal beauty of vaudeville.” – The Stranger, Seattle
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“A theatrical masterpiece.” – Columbia City Paper
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“The most striking production in the (NSDF) festival.” – Times of London
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“Deeply moving...has the audience in stitches at the open and tears at the close.” – The Sun Coast