The Elephant Man is the moving, poetic and ultimately uplifting story of the life of John Merrick. Now in its 25th year of producing professional theatre, Proteus has created a version for the twenty first century. In a highly physical, one-man tour–de–force, the production explores the journey of this remarkable man, from an object of curiosity and social revulsion to celebrity. His life and tragic destiny is as relevant today in our image obsessed culture as it ever was. Merrick’s story provokes us to examine our own attitudes and the value we place on ‘beauty’.