Boulder Creek resident Mark Hoagland’s first full-length play, “The Elephant Man Hears A Who,” debuts this weekend at Ben Lomond’s Park Hall.
Hoagland, 45, is the president of Mountain Community Theater and this year took his first shot at writing a full-length play that will make the stage.
The result? An adult comedy that blends Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who” and the story of the Elephant Man.
The play is meant for audiences age 17 and older, as jokes about sex are prevalent, though it includes no nudity and no explicit scenes.
The idea for the play arose during a conversation between Hoagland and director Scott Kravitz about the worst plays a community theater could stage, Hoagland said.
Both “The Elephant Man,” a story about a disfigured man, and “Horton Hears A Who,” a take on a children’s book starring Horton the elephant that many high schools and youth theater troupes perform as a musical, came up in the conversation.
Naturally, Hoagland combined them.
“It was so hilarious, I had to write it,” he said. “It’s amazing how well ‘The Elephant Man’ and Dr. Seuss go together.”
The story is a play within a play. It follows the Elephant Man and a doctor who is trying to fix him in the midst of the opening night of a play. The story shifts to show the drama backstage as the play collapses on opening night.
The dark comedy is Hoagland’s brainchild, but director Scott Kravitz has developed the theme.
“Scott has his own vision that I would never have imagined,” said Hoagland, whose expertise is in the technical side of theater and set design. “His idea is that the play is all about agendas. If you put your agenda above the greater agenda, you won’t succeed.”
Luke Thornley stars as the Elephant Man, Flynn Crosby plays Dr. Frederick Treves, Brooke Jennings plays Nancy Grissom and Jessica Detering stars as Kattie O’Sullivan-Krauss.
At a glance
WHAT: “The Elephant Man Hears A Who”
WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 1, 2,
8 and 9
WHERE: Park Hall, 9370 Mill St., in Ben Lomond
COST: $13 in advance,
$16 at the door
INFO: www.mctshows.org
