Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the July 30, 1980 edition of The Denver Post.
David Bowie — the flamboyant British rock star who transfixed audiences in the 1970s with his glitter makeup, his shimmering metallic costumes, his brilliant orange hair and the extravagant theatricality of his concerts — is back on the stage again, this time without the glitz.
“I ran out of good books to read,” was how Bowie cryptically explained his acting debut in an interview following a rehearsal of “The Elephant Man.” The show opened Tuesday night at the Auditorium Theatre.
In Bernard Pomerance’s drama, set in 19th century England, Bowie plays John Merrick, a young man deformed from birth. He performs without any makeup or padding, letting his body illustrate all the contortion: His twisted torso lists to one side, his right leg drags, his head is bent at an unnatural angle.
It’s a role that would try the strength of a circus contortionist, yet Bowie contends he does nothing special to get into the part, except use the softest of drugs: “I take aspirin,” he said. “I get headaches.”
But it’s no the physical strain that causes Bowie’s headaches: it’s concentration necessary to sustain the role, as Merrick is adopted by a concerned surgeon (Dr. Treves) and gradually transformed from a sideshow freak into a man of superior intelligence and sensitivity.
“Having worked on the physical side of the part for the last two and a half or three weeks, I’m fairly certain of what I’m doing,” said Bowie. “So there’s not real need for me to continually employ those techniques during the six-hour rehearsal period. Turning your head in that position for six hours a day would be just impossible.”
And in fact, during rehearsal, the lithe, slender Bowie looked more like a relaxed dancer than a cripple. During breaks in the rehearsal, Bowie – dressed in a pale blue shirt, jeans and electric blue shoes – twirled a large wooden cane around his neck (during the show, the cane nearly becomes part of his body), stretched his long legs and smoked.
Discussing his new career, Bowie nonchalantly dismisses the fact that he was trained as a mime 14 years ago: “It was a help 14 years ago.” He considers his rock shows more important training for his current work, although they called for magnification of character, while “Elephant Man” demands a very understated kind of acting.
“They’re both very similar,” he said. “You have to employ the same methods of vision making use of macroglobe or a microglobe, I think.” Then, to correct what might sound like pretentiousness, he added, in a mocking Cockney accent, “It’s yer yin an’ yang, inn’t it?”
Like his film, “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” Bowie considers “Elephant Man” relevant to the 20th century and more than just an evening’s entertainment.
“The ultimate difference between John Merrick and the character in the film is that the man who fell to earth was a purity who was indeed corrupted by those around him,” Bowie said. “Quite the reverse happens in this.
“Even though the movie was set in a futuristic kind of setting, it dealt very much with the morality of the day. The same thing is true of ‘Elephant Man.’ Thought it is set in the past, it has an awful lot to do with what one’s idea of normalcy is and how ‘do as I say, not as I do’ is employed in every sphere of life.”
One of the most difficult parts of Bowie’s role is the shift from Merrick’s being an object of public scorn to being the darling of aristocratic British society, examining hypocrisy from both angles. For Bowie, the complex change happens gradually.
“The seeds are there in the very fist bath scene when Treves is instructing me,” said Bowie. “I’m a little reticent to take his ideas, because before, in the workhouse, the rules that I’ve had put upon me have been very cruel. I’ve been treated with authority in a disgusting manner.
“But I’m willing to take his advice because no one’s ever shown this kind of feeling for me, this gentleness. It’s something that was almost love. I’ve been given a reason for living. But later on, I really do have to start questioning whether this feeling could possibly be a yoke about my neck.”
Bowie, who resides nowhere in particular (Berlin is a “point of reference but I still go to Japan and Africa a lot”), is an instinctive actor. Asked how he keeps the part of Merrick from getting sentimental, he said, “I don’t know, I just know that self-pity is the last thing I have on my mind. Hopefully that broadcasts itself in my interpretation.”
Bowie originally wanted to perform in “Elephant Man” after seeing it several times in December. “Of course every night I wanted to play it,” he said, “but I hadn’t been asked.”
Since director Jack Hofsiss did ask Bowie to join the national company, there has been speculation as to the wisdom of his choice, considering the ensemble nature of “Elephant Man” and Bowie’s superstar reputation.
“That would be a problem if the person involved weren’t as serious and interested in becoming part of the ensemble as David is,” said Hofsiss.
“David’s perception of some elements in the play were so dead-on right, that I felt it would be a wise piece of casting. Inside of our workings, the ensemble has remained and increased.”
Performing in “Elephant Man,” doesn’t mean that Bowie will give up his singing career. He has a record coming out in September called “Scary Monsters” (no relation to “Elephant Man,” Bowie insists).
And he intends to continue expanding his interests in the theater.
“I want to direct,” he said. “I’ve wanted to direct since the word go. One of the many reasons I chose rock ‘n’ roll was that it gave me an opportunity to design shows, to put them all together, to give myself some free practice and to get paid for it. That was a good way of making it enjoyable. I like the idea of putting over various points of view through illusion, creating environments that aren’t really there.”
That’s all in line with Bowie’s attitude toward the amalgamation of the arts.
“For me, there’s not barrier between one art form and another,” he said. “I decided that when I was a painter and sculptor before I started making music. I always applied what I did with painting to my music. And having broken down that barrier, it seemed easy to apply it to everything. It does all start with the imagination.”
