''The Elephant Song'' is a Canadian stage play by

Nicolas Billon Nicolas Billon (born March 22, 1978) is a Canadian writer. He is best known for his plays ''The Elephant Song'', ''Iceland'', and ''Butcher''. Biography Nicolas Billon was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. He is the son ...

, first presented in 2002 and since performed across Canada and around the world. There is also a

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of the play, released in 2014.

History

''The Elephant Song'', by Canadian playwright Nicolas Billon,"TIFF 2014 to screen Xavier Dolan and Denys Arcand films"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, August 6, 2014. was first presented with a reading at Infinitheatre,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. ''The Elephant Song'' was played on stage in Montreal multiple times, as well as in Stratford and St John's in Canada, and internationally in Australia, USA, England, Turkey,Nicolas Billion website - ''The Elephant Song'' page
/ref> and Korea. The UK premiere of ''The Elephant Song'' opened at Park Theatre London 2023 produced by OnBook Theatre. director Jason Moore, set and costume designer Ian Nicholas, Lighting and sound Eliott Sheppard. Jon Osbaldeston as Dr Greenberg, Gwithian Evans as Michael and Louise Faulkner as Miss Perterson. Assistant director Luke Mazzamuto

Synopsis

The play is about events following the sudden disappearance of a psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence, from a mental institution and possible involvement of a young patient of the hospital, Michael, in the disappearance. Michael is a disturbed son of an opera singer and a distant father he has only seen once. The elephant connection is when in their sole meeting together in a nature reserve, the father kills an elephant in front of his son. The incident traumatizes the very young Michael. So does his mother's cold attitude and her distancing herself from him for a singing career. Toby Green, an independent psychiatrist is assigned to investigate Michael's involvement as Michael draws the doctor into a psychological mind game involving his past experiences with parents, with Michael claiming he was the cause of his mother's death as he refused to call an ambulance and sang instead the "elephant song" to her until she died on the floor. He discusses the circumstances of his forced stay in the hospital, he hints to doctor-patient improper relationships involving him and his supervising doctor, and a bizarre relationship with the head nurse. Michael's ploys include an attempt to negotiate an early release from hospital, etc. with his plot ending in great tragedy when he finally convinces the investigating doctor to hand him a box of chocolates. Being strongly allergic to them, he dies in the hands of the doctor and the head nurse after having consumed a number of the chocolates he acquired.

Presentations

Canada

*2002: Reading at Infinitheatre, Montreal, Canada *2003: Reading at Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Canada *2004: Play at Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Canada *2005: Play at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Montreal, Canada *2007: Play at Infinitheatre, Montreal, Canada *2008: Play at Beothuk Street Players, St-John's, Canada *2010: Play at Théâtre Meka, Montreal, Canada

International

*2007: Play at Cairns Little Theatre,

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, Australia *2008: Reading at hotINK International Festival,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, USA *2008: Reading at Workshop Theater Company, New York City, USA *2009: Reading at Crossing the Divide Festival,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England *2011: Play at Bakehouse Theatre,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia *2013–14: Play at Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France *2015: Play at Ali Poyrazoğlu Theatre,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey *2015: Play at Suhyeonjae Theatre,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, Korea *2016: Play at DCF DaeMyung Theatre, Seoul, Korea *2017, 2019: Play at Yes24 stage3 (the former Suhyeonjae Theatre), Seoul, Korea *2023: Play at Park Theatre London, UK

Publications

*''La Chanson de l’Éléphant'' (French) by Éditions Lémeac (August 2005, ) *''The Elephant Song'' (English) by

Playwrights Canada Press Playwrights Canada Press is a Canadian publishing house founded in 1984 by the Playwrights Guild of Canada. It was incorporated in 2000 as an independent company. Notable books *''The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God'', Djanet Sears ( ...

(June 2006, )

Film adaptation

The play was adapted into a drama film directed by

Charles Binamé Charles Binamé (born May 25, 1949) is a Quebec director. He was born in Belgium and came to Montreal with his family at a young age. He joined the National Film Board of Canada as an assistant director in 1971, but soon left for the private sect ...

and released in 2014."Toronto Film Review: ‘Elephant Song’"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', September 15, 2014. with

Bruce Greenwood Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in '' Thirteen Days,'' for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion ...

as Toby Green,

Xavier Dolan Xavier Dolan-Tadros (; born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian filmmaker, actor and costume designer. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2 ...

as Michael. The film premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...

References

External links

Nicolas Billon official website

''The Elephant Song'' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elephant Song

Elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

2002 plays