Elephant's Graveyard
by George Brant

Name: Elephant's Graveyard
Brand: George Brant
SKU: 9780573698156
Rating: 4.11 (167 reviews)

Elephant's Graveyard Book Cover — Elephant's Graveyard Cover

Highlights

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Large Cast

Female

Male

75 mins1910s/WWIEnsemble CastUnit Set/Multiple SettingsPeriod CostumesAmerican

What readers are saying

Readers find Elephant's Graveyard to be a haunting and emotional exploration of serious themes such as violence and capital punishment. Many praise its powerful language and character development, despite some finding the script difficult to engage with due to its stylistic choices. The play's tragic story resonates deeply, eliciting strong emotional reactions from audiences. Overall, it is considered a significant piece in contemporary theatre.

Haunting and mesmerizingPowerful character developmentEmotional and poignant storyStylistic choices may alienate some readers

Synopsis

"Elephant's Graveyard is the unfortunately true story of Mary, an elephant who went berserk during a parade through the middle of a small town in Tennessee in 1916.

The townspeople demanded justice for her actions, which led to a very unfortunate set of circumstances.

The play combines historical fact and legend, exploring the deep-seated American craving for spectacle, violence and revenge."--George Brant's interview answer to Adam Szymkowicz in "I Interview Playwrights Part 48: George Brant" by Adam Szymkowicz.

Press Reviews

"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

"A theatrical masterpiece."
— Columbia City Paper

"The most striking production in the (NSDF) festival."
— Times of London

"Deeply moving...has the audience in stitches at the open and tears at the close."
— The Sun Coast

"The script is, like the best art, microscopically specific with echoes that radiate outward across time. 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

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Trainer loves his work	male	—	loves his work
Ballet Girl a showgirl in control	—	—	a showgirl in control
Tour Manager bit of a bully	—	—	bit of a bully
Strongman a proud muscleman from Europe’s far-off shores	—	—	a proud muscleman from Europe’s far-off shores
Clown a comedian with an inferiority complex	—	—	a comedian with an inferiority complex
Drummer keeps the beat	—	—	keeps the beat
Hungry Townsperson African-American, a steel-trap memory	—	—	African-American, a steel-trap memory
Marshal keeps the peace	—	—	keeps the peace
Muddy Townsperson a haunted widow	—	—	a haunted widow
Preacher doggedly hopeful	—	—	doggedly hopeful
Steam Shovel Operator looking for escape	—	—	looking for escape
Young Townsperson excitable dreamer	—	—	excitable dreamer
Guitarist/Harmonica Player sets the rhythm	—	—	sets the rhythm
Engineer confident Time is on his side	male	—	confident Time is on his side
Ringmaster obsessed with the bottom line	—	—	obsessed with the bottom line