New shows often try to find an approach to theater that audiences have not yet seen, or attempt to update classic stories into a modern setting, or endeavor to tell the story of underrepresented populations. Success in these efforts varies, and to pursue all three in the same new show may seem tenuous and scarcely achievable.
The script by Ivan Menchell plays out like the familiar Cyrano de Bergerac story: Chris is handsome but dull and needs Cy’s help to woo Roxy. Cy, loyal to his longtime friend, lends him his gift for romantic eloquence. Here though, instead of our Cyrano whispering from the bushes, Cy stays out of Roxy’s gaze and uses ASL to deliver the language of love to Chris. This is not simply Cyrano dressed up in modern clothes to trade on a beloved story. Like the best of adaptations, the show uses its source material to explore how a familiar narrative can give exciting new dimension when told against a much less familiar backdrop.
These techniques are especially innovative during songs (music and lyrics by Caroline Kay), as projections or signs work naturally and melodiously with the music to enhance the song’s expressiveness. The best moment is Cy’s solo, “That Was Me”: Cy is non-verbal, but Durant signs with deep emotion as the cello (Louise Dubin under the music direction of Meghann Zervoulis Bate) plays the lead melody as captions dance the lyrics on stage next to Cy.
Never in the show do signs, captions, or speech ever work as some ancillary, interpretive gloss. They instead operate in unison as integral components to the performance.
No asterisks are necessary to describe the success of “Elephant Shoes,” as if it were great only insofar as a show that relies heavily on ASL might be. It is not some special experiment that makes for a unique experience. It is instead excellent in all the ways that make for exciting theater: The story is sharply written and warm, the cast is stellar, and the production is crisp. It is a show that challenges us not by deconstructing our expectations for theater but by delivering that which is so familiar—a warm and moving romantic comedy built on an old, well-worn story—in such an unfamiliar and invigorating way.