'Elephant's Graveyard' at UVU is engaging theater

“ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD,” Utah Valley University Noorda Theatre, through Dec. 10, $7-$12

OREM — In 1916, in the town of Erwin, Tenn., an elephant was hoisted by a crane and hanged by a chain around her neck.

Yes, as punishment for killing one of its handlers during a circus parade passing through the region, a behemoth elephant was publicly strung up like a human criminal and executed.

That bizarre chapter of cruelty is recounted in an award-winning play, “Elephant’s Graveyard,” a theatrical collage receiving its area premiere in an engaging production by UVU’s theater department.

George Brant — who wrote the play while a graduate student and was awarded the National Playwriting Award by the 2008 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival — selected an oral history format to present the contrasting views of the narrow-minded townspeople and the exotic circus troupe. In storytelling fashion, ensemble members, under skilled direction from D. Terry Petrie, present their perspectives for a 360-degree look at the collision of two cultures.

While there is live music performed and sung on stage by four band members, “Elephant’s Graveyard” is not a musical, but the production becomes a wholly unique choral presentation, if not a tightly choreographed vocal dance, through the interwoven spoken monologues presented without any interaction between the actors. The questions examined but left for the audience to decide concern justice and revenge, commerce and spectacle.

We never actually see Mary, as the animal performer of the traveling circus was named, but through vivid imagery created by the ensemble and the set designed by Jared Lewis, the gentle giant elephant star comes to life before us and we feel her weighty presence throughout the 90-minute play.

Benjamin J. Henderson gives a mesmerizing performance as Ringmaster, who sees Mary as a “five-ton cash register.” Equally impressive are Jacquelyne Jones as Ballet Girl, “an elephant is a girl’s best friend,” she tells us; James McKinney as Strongman; and Coral Chambers as the white-faced clown who is emotionally attached to Mary but must dig her large grave. Chase Ramsey does wonder-filled double duty with musical direction and performing as Tour Manager, who made the mistake of putting a rookie handler atop Mary. Caitlin Webb as Muddy Townsperson and Jacob Porter as the Marshal — proudly declaring, “We are Americans. We can do anything at all!” — also create striking characters.

“Elephant’s Graveyard” is an interesting and affecting piece of theater, beautifully handled by the actors to make it genuinely affecting. The show packs an emotional wallop that lingers after its close.