Actors and crew from the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, were out in Brentwood on Friday, using the old Warley Hospital as a backdrop for their forthcoming play – The Elephant Man.

The official photo shoot for the Theatre’s thrilling new production, which opens on 17 April and plays until 9 May, took place at the historic location – built in the 1850s, Warley Hospital was originally a psychiatric institution but the site has now been redeveloped into a private residential area known as Clements Park.

The Elephant Man is partially set in a hospital in Victorian London and tells the enlightening true story of John Merrick, an intelligent young man with terrible physical deformities.

Tom Cornish, who will star as Merrick, was photographed in traditional Victorian costume in various locations against the building’s iconic red-brick facade, handsome stone mullion windows and elegant arched doorways.

“The old Warley Hospital’s beautiful gothic architecture is hugely atmospheric,” said the theatre’s Head of Marketing, Karen Chilvers. “Much of the story of the Elephant Man takes place in The London Hospital, Whitechapel, in the 1880s, so we felt it was the perfect local backdrop for this intensely powerful piece of theatre.”

This inspired new staging of Bernard Pomerance’s famous play is directed by the critically-acclaimed director Simon Jessop and stars the Queen’s award-winning resident acting ensemble cut to the chase….

For more information about the production and to book tickets, call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit queens-theatre.co.uk.