THE ELEPHANT MAN to Open at LTV Studios in Wainscott

What does it take to look past the surface and see the human being underneath? That question drives 'The Elephant Man,' Bernard Pomerance's Tony Award-winning drama. The Mirror & Masque Theatre Co. and Playwrights' Theatre of East Hampton will bring this Victorian story of dignity and compassion to Wainscott, opening on Thursday, Oct. 22, and running through Sunday, Nov. 1.

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, the play follows a severely disfigured young man in Victorian London and the surgeon, Frederick Treves, who takes him in. Their relationship becomes a powerful and deeply moving exploration of humanity, dignity, and the meaning of beauty.

For Mirror & Masque co-founders and co-artistic directors Dayne Rasmussen and Robert R. Doyle, it is a long-held dream project. Rasmussen stars as Merrick, with Doyle as Treves.

The production is staged in the round on a single circular platform that serves as Merrick's dormitory, ringed by an eight-foot-wide runway that becomes the streets of London. Guests enter through a 10-by-10-foot muslin drop hand-painted with an enlargement of the original Victorian advertisement for the Elephant Man, then take their seats inside a circle of red-and-white curtains designed to evoke a circus town.

The cast also includes Gerard Doyle as Carr Gomm; Josh Gladstone, LTV's executive and creative director, as Ross/The Bishop; Seamus Doyle as Lord John/Policeman/Janitor; Carolann DiPirro as Mrs. Kendal; and Rebecca Edana as Mrs. Sandwich/Young Nurse. Robert Doyle's mother Betsy, a retired music teacher, assists with stage management. (No family relations in the cast otherwise.)