''The Elephant Song'' is a Canadian stage play by

Nicolas Billon Nicolas Billon (born March 22, 1978) is a Canadian writer. He is best known for his plays ''The Elephant Song'', ''Iceland (play), Iceland'', and ''Butcher (play), Butcher''. Biography Nicolas Billon was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in M ...

, first presented in 2002 and since performed across Canada and around the world. There is also a

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the play, released in 2014.

History

''The Elephant Song'', by Canadian playwright Nicolas Billon,"TIFF 2014 to screen Xavier Dolan and Denys Arcand films"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, August 6, 2014. was first presented with a reading at Infinitheatre,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. ''The Elephant Song'' was played on stage in Montreal multiple times, as well as in Stratford and St John's in Canada, and internationally in Australia, USA, England, Turkey,Nicolas Billion website - ''The Elephant Song'' page
/ref> and Korea. The UK premiere of ''The Elephant Song'' opened at Park Theatre London 2023 produced by OnBook Theatre. director Jason Moore, set and costume designer Ian Nicholas, Lighting and sound Eliott Sheppard. Jon Osbaldeston as Dr Greenberg, Gwithian Evans as Michael and Louise Faulkner as Miss Perterson. Assistant director Luke Mazzamuto

Synopsis

The play is about events following the sudden disappearance of a psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence, from a mental institution and possible involvement of a young patient of the hospital, Michael, in the disappearance. Michael is a disturbed son of an opera singer and a distant father, he has only seen him once. The elephant connection is when, in their sole meeting together in a nature reserve, the father kills an elephant in front of his son. The incident traumatizes the very young Michael. His mother's cold attitude and her distancing herself from him for a singing career also affect this. Toby Green, an independent psychiatrist is assigned to investigate Michael's involvement as Michael draws the doctor into a psychological mind game involving his past experiences with parents, with Michael claiming he was the cause of his mother's death as he refused to call an ambulance and sang instead the "elephant song" to her until she died on the floor. He discusses the circumstances of his forced stay in the hospital, he hints at doctor-patient improper relationships involving him and his supervising doctor, and a bizarre relationship with the head nurse. Michael's ploys include an attempt to negotiate an early release from the hospital, etc., with his plot ending in great tragedy when he finally convinces the investigating doctor to hand him a box of chocolates. Being strongly allergic to them, he died in the hands of the doctor and the head nurse after having consumed a number of the chocolates he acquired.

Presentations

Canada

*2002: Reading at Infinitheatre, Montreal, Canada *2003: Reading at Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Canada *2004: Play at Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Canada *2005: Play at Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Montreal, Canada *2007: Play at Infinitheatre, Montreal, Canada *2008: Play at Beothuk Street Players, St-John's, Canada *2010: Play at Théâtre Meka, Montreal, Canada

International

*2007: Play at Cairns Little Theatre,

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, Australia *2008: Reading at hotINK International Festival,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, USA *2008: Reading at Workshop Theater Company, New York City, USA *2009: Reading at Crossing the Divide Festival,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England *2011: Play at Bakehouse Theatre,

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia *2013–14: Play at Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France *2015: Play at Ali Poyrazoğlu Theatre,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey *2015: Play at Suhyeonjae Theatre,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Korea *2016: Play at DCF DaeMyung Theatre, Seoul, Korea *2017, 2019: Play at Yes24 stage3 (the former Suhyeonjae Theatre), Seoul, Korea *2023: Play at Park Theatre London, UK *2024: Play at Liepaja Theatre, Latvia

Publications

*''La Chanson de l’Éléphant'' (French) by Éditions Lémeac (August 2005, ) *''The Elephant Song'' (English) by Playwrights Canada Press (June 2006, )

Film adaptation

The play was adapted into a drama film directed by

Charles Binamé Charles Binamé (born May 25, 1949) is a Quebec director. He was born in Belgium and came to Montreal with his family at a young age. He joined the National Film Board of Canada as an assistant director in 1971, but soon left for the private sec ...

and released in 2014."Toronto Film Review: ‘Elephant Song’"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', September 15, 2014. with

Bruce Greenwood Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He has starred in five films by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan and has been nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, once for Best Actor for '' Elephant Song'' ...

as Toby Green,

Xavier Dolan Xavier Dolan-Tadros (; born 20 March 1989) is a Canadian filmmaker and actor. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2009 for his feature ...

as Michael. The film premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...

References

External links

Nicolas Billon official website

''The Elephant Song'' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elephant Song

Elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

2002 plays Quebec plays