Elephant

Description

'The men with the Piano look up the narrow staircase of our little flat and they turn to Dad, light their fags, and say; "We might have to take the windows out".' A piano came through the sky and landed in Lylah's council flat, just for her. As she pours over the keys and sound floods into all the rooms, Lylah falls in love. At school, Lylah can't ask questions - she's got to be good, good, good or else she'll lose her scholarship. At home she can't ask questions; her cousins say she talks weird, and her parents are distracted. So she asks her piano: Where did you come from? Why are you here? And their shared history tumbles into the light. Part gig, part piano lesson, part journey through Empire - Elephant is a powerful new play from Anoushka Lucas. This edition is published to coincide with the world premiere at the Bush Theatre, London, in October 2022.

Anoushka Lucas is a multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter. Her music has been championed by Jazz Fm (Love Supreme winner 2013) and Radio 2 (Jamie Cullum show, BBC Introducing). Composer: Klook's Last Stand (Book by Che Walker, Park Theatre 2014), The Etienne Sisters (Book by Che Walker, Stratford East 2015), Klook's Last Stand (NAMT, Oct 2017) Actor: Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary Magdalene, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Olivier Award Best Musical Revival), Murder on the Orient Express (Pianist, dir: Kenneth Branagh, 20th Century Fox), Been So Long (dir: Tinge Krishnan, BFI/Film4/Greenacre)