The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Elephant Man playwright Bernard Pomerance dies at 76
Bernard Pomerance, the playwright best known for Tony Award-winning play The Elephant Man, has died at the age of 76.
Long-time agent Alan Brodie said Pomerance died of complications from cancer at his home in Galisteo, New Mexico.
The Elephant Man, a story about a horribly deformed man which has lured some of Hollywood’s biggest names, was based on a true story and has been frequently revived since its 1979 New York debut.
It examines the life of John Merrick, an extremely disfigured but indomitable man who becomes a celebrity in Victorian London.
On Broadway, such diverse performers as David Bowie and Mark Hamill eventually followed Philip Anglim in the title role.
Billy Crudup starred in a 2002 revival, and Bradley Cooper led one in 2014 that earned four Tony nominations.
John Hurt starred in David Lynch’s 1980 film adaptation.
Pomerance’s tale showcases the triumph of a very human spirit, personified by the sensitive, almost saintly Merrick.
He is a man who finds safe haven in a London hospital after spending much of his life in secondrate carnivals as a freak attraction – and then blossoms into the confidante of celebrated actresses, statesmen and even royalty.
“Sometimes I think my head is so big because it is so full of dreams,” Merrick says at one point in the play. “Do you know what happens when dreams cannot get out?”
The play also puts Merrick in the middle of a tug-of-war between science and religion.
Pomerance was born and raised in New York City and educated at the University of Chicago.
Along with Roland Rees and David Aukin, he founded the theatre company Foco Novo in 1972, a name taken from Pomerance’s play of the same title.
Pomerance also wrote Quantrill In Lawrence and Melons, produced at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984.
He is survived by his children Moby and Eve, grandchildren William and Gabriel, and brother Michael.