The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

32 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 6, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Play opens Thursday Continued from page 31 he's eventually returned to the care of Dr. Treves at the hospital. It's here that Merrick lives and is studied for four years, until his death in 1889. "During this time, Dr. Treves is trying to teach John Merrick to be a human being. They think that he's quite unintelligent, because they have this impression of him," said Groulx. "It turns out that he was quite the philosopher," added Mustafa. "He asked a lot of questions, he wanted to learn, he reads. He comes to a point in the play where he's challenging Dr. Treves." This is a defining point in the play, as challenging authority was unconventional in London in the late 1800s, a society with rigid borders and limitations. "John Merrick is almost the only alive, living person who isn't caught up in all of that. He asks questions, he questions authority," Mustafa said. "That brings up the question in the play, that by trying to force him to be normal, are you actually killing his individuality?" While The Elephant Man is the story of a deformed man and societal outcast, Groulx stresses the play has lighter moments. "It's actually a very hopeful show, because there's a lot of humour in it," said the director. One of the positive relationships that emerges is between Merrick and an actress, hired to "pretend" to want to become his friend. "In order to continue developing his normality, the doctor wanted to hire an actress to act the fact that she was interested in even meeting John Merrick," said Mustafa. "He thought that an actress could do it, could put on a show, hide her feelings and do the part." It turns out Merrick and Mrs. Kendal "connect so much," Mustafa says, "that she allows herself to lose her pretensions, and they become friends." "She realizes that John Merrick is far more intelligent than all these other people around her," added Groulx. "Philosophical, kind-hearted. It's shocking to her because she's given the impression that he's almost disabled. He's not at all, it's the opposite." Many people ­ celebrities, lords and more ­ befriend Merrick after he and Kendal forge a relationship. "It became fashionable to become friends with The Elephant Man," said Mustafa. "It was the thing to do." Of course, there's the question of whether they cared about him or not. "They were all so concerned about him becoming like them," Groulx said. And in the end, the play leaves the audience to question not whether The Elephant Man should have conformed to society, but whether society should have simply accepted John Merrick for who he was. "Basically, John Merrick takes the mirror and faces it toward the audience for the audience to see how we feel," said Mustafa. "It's a pretty amazing and important play. It says a lot about humanity, it says a lot about how we look at other people." WEST's production of The Elephant Man runs from Thursday, Feb. 7 ­ Saturday, Feb. 9, and Wednesday, Feb. 13 ­ Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 120 Navy St. Curtain is at 8 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 905815-2021.