The Elephant Man

This play is a theatreland winner for a very good reason. Broadway went completely mad for it. Now it's over here, and the role's three-time Oscar nominee star Bradley Cooper is quite something to see in this exceptional role, for which he won a huge amount of critical acclaim. It's the tragic, real-life story of John Merrick, the Elephant Man, whose life inspired the famous Bafta winning David Lynch movie in 1980.

The actor told the British press he was proud to be bringing Merrick 'home', and he does so in the most remarkable fashion. There are no special costumes or prosthetics used in this play, no make-up or ingenious visual trickery. Cooper instead contorts his body on stage to evoke Merrick's physical deformities very eloquently indeed... how clever is that!

The play is very ably directed by Scott Ellis and plays at the Theatre Royal Haymarket 'til the end of the first week in August 2015. If you'd love to experience this magical re-imagining of a highly unusual and challenging life, and meet a truly extraordinary character portrayed masterfully and realistically, this one's for you.