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What: Elephant Shoes
Where: Two River Theater
21 Bridge Ave.
Red Bank, NJ
Who: Recommended for Ages 10 and Up
When: Through June 28, 2026
Elephant Shoes is an engaging new biomodal bilingual musical. Bimodal in the sense that it involves two methods of communication, in this case, speaking with words as in English and speaking in signs as in American Sign Language, and it doesn't give short shrift to either. In previous shows involving both hearing and deaf actors, the performers were double-cast, and a hearing actor not only translated the deaf actors' lines but also sang for them. In this case, both sets of performers deliver their own lines and perform their own songs in their own language as well. However, it is beautifully managed so that neither deaf nor hearing audience members ever feel left out or confused about what is going on or what is being said.
When it suits the plot and characters, direct onstage translation is used. There is also generous use of captions. These sometimes take the form of texts between characters. This not only fits seamlessly into the storyline but also makes sense within it. In any case, whether you are hearing or deaf, you will always know what is going on and what is being said at any moment.
The story itself is loosely based on the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergerac. A hearing man asks his deaf friend to help him win over a woman whom the friend is in love with. The deaf man is played by Daniel Durant, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film CODA. Durant is adorably charming and appealing in the role. The way he can so movingly express himself in song through sign language alone is incredibly affecting.
Taylor Iman Jones is equally sweet in the role of the love interest. She is not the confident Roxanne of the original story but a woman who clearly suffers from both social anxiety and low self-esteem despite her intelligence and skill at her job. In that sense, she is very relatable.
Of course, there is more to the story than just the Cyrano de Bergerac-related angle. However, this aspect is at the heart of it, both literally and figuratively.
And that's our view. For more about Elephant Shoes or to purchase tickets, visit tworivertheater.org/whats-on/elephant-shoes.
Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.
Photo credits:
All Elephant Shoes production photos by Curtis Brown Photography
Images used in this post were sent by publicists, artists, and/or PR firms and are used by permission. Any Concerns regarding image usage can be addressed here.
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