Following its 2020 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania performances and successful U.K. Tours from 2014-2019 – including runs at Bristol Old Vic and Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe – Poonamallee Productions brings their critically acclaimed production of Michael Morpurgo’s An Elephant in the Garden to the digital stage for the very first time in collaboration with the Barn Theatre.

“Beautiful storytelling in action … stunningly performed by Alison Reid” – The Guardian

1945, Dresden, Germany. Lizzie, her mother – and an elephant from the zoo, flee the Allied fire-bombing in the end-game of the Second World War. Escaping the Allies’ advance from the West – and also the advancing Russian armies from the East – this extraordinary trio of refugees meet: a downed RAF officer, cowering in a barn; a homeless school choir on the run and their Countess saviours, harbouring them from the Nazis; and the mechanised American cavalry, appearing over the horizon. 

It is Lizzie’s story – but Marlene, the elephant, is the heroine. Plodding, obdurate opportunistic, load-bearing, indestructible, cheering – Marlene embodies the stubbornness of the human will and how it will do everything to survive.

This performance is available as a stream-on-demand service, hosted on the Barn Theatre website. You will need to create an InPlayer account if you don’t have one already. Tickets can be purchased in advance and will be valid for your chosen 24-hour window.