Anoushka Lucas’ play Elephant to run at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London

Elephant by award-winning writer and actor Anoushka Lucas is getting a reimagined new production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London this spring 2025.

Originally commissioned and developed by the Bush Theatre, the Menier Chocolate Factory and Kindred Partners (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dirty Dancing) are joining forces for the revival of Elephant, which will play a limited season from 22 May to 28 June 2025.

Written by and starring Anoushka Lucas, the show is part gig, part musical love story, part journey through Empire, and billed as a bold and magnetic exploration of identity in 21st Century Britain.

The show opened in the Bush Theatre’s studio space in 2022, before transferring to their main theatre in 2023. Elephant enjoyed a number of great reviews from London’s theatre critics.

Lucas won the Best Writer Award at The Stage Debut Awards for Elephant, and was nominated for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

Directed by Jess Edwards (Passengers), the creative team will also include design by Georgia Wilmot, lighting design by Laura Howard, sound design by Xana, and video design by Gillian Tan.

In the play, at school Lylah couldn’t ask questions – she had to be good, good, good or else she’d lose her scholarship. At home she couldn’t ask questions; her cousins said she talked weird, and her parents were distracted. Then, a piano came through the sky and landed in Lylah’s council flat, just for her. As she pored over the keys and sound flooded into all the rooms, Lylah fell in love.

Now an adult, Lylah is swept up in the excitement of a new romance and a budding music career. But something still doesn’t feel right. In a search for answers, she turns to her piano. Where did you come from? Why are you here? The unspoken truth of their shared history spills into the light.

Anoushka Lucas is currently starring in Rhinoceros at the Almeida Theatre in London. Her other acting credits include A Face in the Crowd (Young Vic), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (Young Vic and West End), The Crucible (Sheffield Theatres), Henry V (Donmar Warehouse), After Life (National Theatre), and Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Read more about Anoushka Lucas.

Elephant is playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 22 May to 28 June 2025.

Currently playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory is Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, until 3 May 2025. Coming up is Trevor Ashley in LIZA in TYPSY!, from 7 to 11 May 2025.

More about tickets to Elephant at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London

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Main photo: Elephant. Anoushka Lucas. Photo by Sergei Sarakhanov