It was during the late summer of 1916 that Erwin, Tennessee, entered the annals of folk-fop history. The little Appalachian town already had a minor claim in that regard, having been misnamed (it was supposed to be “Ervin,” with a “v”) due to a clerical error. But the 1916 incident is what put Erwin over the top fop-wise, making it a worthy target of earnest, bad plays like George Brant’s Elephant’s Graveyard.
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On September 11 of that year the Sparks World Famous Shows circus came to Kingsport, about 35 miles north of Erwin. Sparks’s prime attraction at the time was a 20-year-old elephant named Mary, reputed to be even bigger than Barnum’s legendary Jumbo. An inexperienced handler, Walter “Red” Eldridge, was leading Mary to a watering pond when, the story goes, Mary noticed a discarded piece of watermelon lying in the street and went for it. Red used his bull hook to try and get her back on course, but only succeeded in getting her mad. Mary picked Red up with her trunk, threw him against a wall, and then squashed his head with her foot. End of Red. Also, interestingly, end of tantrum: apparently satisfied to have sent Red to elephant-handler hell, Mary didn’t go on a rampage.
The powers that be considered everything from electrocution (insufficient juice available) to pulling Mary apart with steam locomotives (too gross). In the end they chose to take her down to Erwin, which had a railroad yard with heavy equipment, and hang her from an industrial crane until she asphyxiated. And that’s what was done—clumsily, horribly. Among other mishaps, the first chain they used broke as Mary was being hoisted, causing her to fall some feet and fracture her hip. Then they fastened a heavier chain around her neck and killed her again, this time successfully. Ever since then, Erwin has been known, foppishly, as the town where they hung the elephant.
A company of vivid ghosts, with a strong sense of ensemble and good singing voices. Jeffrey Gitelle has the right hangdog look as the circus’s clown, Carrie Drapac the right tomboyish arrogance as Shorty, the primary elephant tender. Paul Miller brings a surprising depth to what would seem to be the cartoonish role of the irascible tour manager, making us aware that—like any good logistics man—he understands how his actions contributed to the tragedy before us. At the center of it all, as Charles Sparks, Sean Thomas alternates effectively between the dream of himself in the center ring and the old shell doing the dreaming.
Through 6/16: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Red Tape Theatre, 621 W. Belmont, 773-329-1088, redtapetheatre.org, $15-$25.
