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The Roundtable

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man” through 6/15

By Sarah LaDuke
Published May 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM EDT
The Elephant Man artwork for BTG 2025
provided

From a desperate existence in a Victorian freak show to his days as the toast of London high society, the life of John Merrick, the Elephant Man, has fascinated the world for well over a century. Though his disfigurement brought notoriety, it was his unblemished inner humanity that most astonished everyone he knew.

“The Elephant Man” is an examination of society’s perception of beauty, normalcy and kindness. It’s a deeply human story about the need for connection and understanding.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Bernard Pomerance’s Tony Award-winning drama, “The Elephant Man,” May 28 - June 15 at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA.

We are joined now by two actors from the production, Michael Wartella and Harry Smith.
Wartella plays John Merrick, the title character, and Smith plays Dr. Frederick Treves.

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Sarah LaDuke
Sarah has worked in public radio since 2006. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing. She is on the board of WAM Theatre and lives in Albany, New York with her husband, Paul, and their dog, Doritos.
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