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Interviews
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Joe Duttine - a quietly spoken, gentle personality Philip Seager meets actor Joe Duttine who is about to star in The Elephant Man in Sheffield. Joe Duttine is in rehearsal in Sheffield for his role as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, commencing at the Lyceum Theatre on 21st February 2008. I met him today, a quietly spoken, gentle personality who has been acting for nearly twenty years on stage and television. Originating form Halifax, he has spent much of his life in London enjoying the excitement, but now relearning the welcoming beauty of the Derbyshire hills. He treats his acting as just a job, one that he enjoys, an opportunity to entertain and amuse the audiences, and every now and then, encourage them to think. He is relaxed, even embarrassed at being the centre of attention, and not quite sure whether it is he or John Merrick who is causing all the excitement. However, he is very clear that he is acting the role, with no props or appendages to distort himself. Learning that the role was available, he has been spending time understanding the nuances of the rare condition, Proteus Syndrome, with which John Merrick was inflicted, but, even more important, coming to appreciate how he struggled to normalise his life in spite of his bizarre and grotesque disability by using it to make himself an object of entertainment, and therefore of financial gain. I had already become intrigued with the unusual medical condition, and now I look forward to a fascinating evening with The Elephant Man.
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