Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – New Victory presents THE VANISHING ELEPHANT, a soulful family concoction that evokes “War Horse” and “Life of Pi”

• By drediman
• October 24, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend at Stage 42, I had the chance to catch up with New Victory Theater’s Off-Broadway presentation of the Cahoots NI production of The Vanishing Elephant by Charles Way. In short, the parable-like show tells the story of Jenny, a young elephant who is orphaned and captured. When Jenny is transported from India to America to perform in a circus, she’s separated her from her human soulmate Opu, which starts a lifelong adventure for both of them.

Belfast-based Cahoots NI (which specializes in children’s theater and previously brought Nivelli’s War to the New Victory in 2017) uses puppetry and ensemble theater-making to tell this decades-spanning story of Jenny and Opu. In many respects – from the staging to the work’s themes – The Vanishing Elephant evokes and in a way rides on the critical and commercial successes of award-winning puppet-driven shows like War Horse and Life of Pi. Despite these similarities, The Vanishing Elephant manages to forge its own soulful identity, particularly with respect to its advocacy of animal and human rights.

The ensemble cast does a find job of telling the tale with clarity and measured care, seamlessly blending puppetry with acting. Albeit amusing, there’s little by way of the cartoonish over-the-top tendencies of some children’s theater out there (e.g., TheatreWorksUSA’s musical adaptations of David Pilkey’s Dog Man and Cat Kid Comic Club quickly come to mind). The whole thing is gently-wrought, culminating in a “Prodigal Son”-like conclusion that’s undeniably moving.

RECOMMENDED

THE VANISHING ELEPHANT
Off-Broadway, Theater
New Victory Theater at Stage 42 / Cahoots NI
1 hour, 10 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 29