For children ages eight and older. Although younger children attended and were totally quiet. Use your judgment. There are spoilers here, but one assumes it’s not the children reading.
January 7, 1918, Harry Houdini made a full grown elephant named Jennie disappear at the Hippodrome in New York City. The pachyderm was ushered into a large cabinet which was closed and turned toward the audience. Front and back were opened to reveal emptiness. This is Jennie’s story. We don’t hear about that vanishing until the end.
Adi Chugh
“Cast One day beneath a Tamarind tree/An elephant was born./She did not know she was an elephant/She did not know the tree was in Bengal/She did not know Bengal was in India/She did not know she was three feet tall./She just was.” The cast circle and gesture in unison. An elephant shadow puppet appears lit up in a small wood box. “What a wonderful place/So much to eat/ So much room to move/So many relatives.” The baby elephant particularly loved the sound of rain and a pond with water lilies. Suddenly crickets stopped and human hunters appeared.
Unable to keep with her fleeing herd, the little one is captured. “For the first time she vanished.“ Light goes out in the box. A crowd gathers. We hear rhythmic drums and music. Villagers dance. A slatted wood crate opens to reveal the elephant – separate head and torso manipulated by a puppeteer. A little boy, Opu (Adi Chugh – you’ll believe he’s a child) is determined to see her. “The rope looks painful,” he says to Manhout (Madhav Vasantha). “It’s supposed to be painful so her spirit gets broken,” the keeper responds. Lesson one. Elephant vocal sound throughout is convincing.
Shanara Gabrielle and Ola Teniola
Opu names her Janu. He has a tender way with the tusker. She responds. He teaches her tricks. The puppet’s trunk is especially flexible. The boy neglects lessons. His adoptive parents are unhappy. They have big plans for him, still he’s young. They allow him to stay. Lesson for parents. The elephant is sold to an American circus and renamed Jennie by the owner’s daughter, Carole (Shanara Gabrielle). She pledges to be kind. The boy unsuccessfully tries to hide his friend in the jungle. (Riding her is beautifully choreographed.) Janu remembers her mother and cousins. The two are found. Jennie is hefted aboard a ship. “This is the second time she disappears.” Opu can do nothing. Lesson two.
When we see the elephant exit a crate in New York, she’s grown. Four puppeteers bring her to life. Her new trainer Jarrett (Ola Teniola) has a hook. Carole reiterates the need for patience and gentleness, but ultimately sees what she wants as long as Jennie performs. (She eventually realizes this.) Lesson three. Two long wood boxes on wheels representing a train are turned vertical and opened to create a stage entrance. Red curtain hangs between the towers. (Sabine Dargent – Set and Costume Design)
Circus life gets harder. More shows are required. The hook is used. Jarrett surprises himself by developing a relationship with Jennie. One day the big top tiger (an intentionally less sympathetic puppet, but not scary) gets out. Jennie is brave. Jarrett convinces Carole that the elephant is no longer up to demands. Lesson four.
Back in India, old man Upo (Cliff Samara – marvelous! ) reads about Houdini’s (James Grimm) trick with an elephant named Jennie. Could it be his friend? The ending is clever and immensely touching. Lesson five.
The company moves beautifully, often in unison. All actors convey much more than the poetic, economic script delivers. Everything written in straightforward, i.e. no big vocabulary words.
Appealing costumes, except for the occasional character, are meant to serve multiple purposes and do.
Music consultant and composer, MD Pallavi, in collaboration with composer/sound designer, Aoife Kavanagh, provides an evocative East Indian score, sometimes with Assamese vocals (An Indo-Aryan language).
The Vanishing Elephant is produced by Cahoots, supported by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and presented in partnership with Belfast International Arts Festival with support from British Council NI.
I would suggest learning a little something about elephants, especially in India and perhaps a little something about Houdini for questions afterward.
The Vanishing Elephant
Paul Bosco McEneaney -Creative Director, Artistic Director Cahoots NI
Charles Way – Writer
Helen Foan (Foan & Fortune) Puppetry Designer/Director
Jayachandran Palazhny- Choreographer
Photos by Melissa Gordon
The New Victory Theater currently hosted by Stage 42
422 West 42nd Street
Through October 29, 2023
