Elephant 21

Elephant 21 is a new theatre production which aims to capture the vibrancy and diversity of 21st century Elephant & Castle and its community shortly before extensive redevelopment of the area is due to take place.

The Mayhem Company (TMC), the theatre group behind Elephant 21, initially trained a group of people from the area to act as oral historians who then went into the local community and interviewed a broad range of people who have lived and loved in Elephant & Castle.

These collected stories have inspired the play Elephant 21, the performances of which will take place in the Royal Court's Theatre Local space upstairs at the shopping centre.

The plot of Elephant 21 weaves through the past one hundred years told through four generations of the Valentine family in a play about war, Sarsparilla, Knickerbocker glories, more war, suicide, jiving and unrequited love.

The cast is a mixture of young non-professionals from The Mayhem Company, professional actors, and older non-professionals from Blackfriars Settlement.