Short Play
Drama
Fables/Folktales, Period, Docudrama/Historic
40 minutes
Time Period - 1910s / WWI
Settings Of Play - The set may be an empty stage or an abstract collision of the worlds of the circus, town and railroad. This collision need not be pretty.
FEATURES / CONTAINS
No intermission, Physical Comedy, Play w/ Music
Unit Set/Multiple Settings, Bare Stage/Simple Set
Period Costumes
CAUTIONS
Alcohol, Mild Adult Themes
THEMES
Adolescence, Aging, Betrayal, Black issues, Childhood, Death, Fairy Tales, Feminism, Friendship, Love, Memory, Religion
TARGET AUDIENCE
Adult, Senior, Pre-Teen (Age 11 - 13), Teen (Age 14 - 18)
PERFORMANCE GROUP
High School/Secondary
RECOGNITION / AWARDS
KCACTF: Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival New Play
Winner! 2008 Keene Prize for Literature
Winner! 2008 David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award
Elephant's Graveyard is the true tale of the tragic collision of a struggling circus and a tiny town in Tennessee, which resulted in the only known lynching of an elephant. Set in September of 1916, the play combines historical fact and legend, exploring the deep-seated American craving for spectacle, violence and revenge.This abridged version, which runs about 40 minutes in length, is perfect for high schools looking to perform the play at theatre competitions or for producers looking for a shorter version of the original script. Adapted by the author, it maintains the haunting drama of the award-winning full length play.
"The script is, like the best art, microscopically specific with echoes that radiate outward across time. Elephant's Graveyard buzzes with truth about the consequences of misunderstanding, the invisible but enormous gap between artists and their audiences, and the infernal beauty of vaudeville." - The Stranger, Seattle
"A theatrical masterpiece." – Columbia City Paper
"The most striking production in the (NSDF) festival." – Times of London
"Deeply moving...has the audience in stitches at the open and tears at the close." – TheSunCoast.com
Elephant's Graveyard was first produced by the University of Texas at Austin at the Oscar Brockett Theatre in Austin, Texas on November 16, 2007. The performance was directed by Laura Kepley, with sets by Szu-Feng Chen, costumes by Jan McCauley,
