Tragic Story of Circus Elephant Tyke Comes to the West End and Edinburgh Fringe
After years of abuse and confinement at the hands of a circus, Tyke snapped. She fought back, killed her trainer, and injured 13 other people before dying after being shot nearly 100 times.
This elephant’s story highlights how circuses mentally and physically abuse animals until they go mad from the frustration, loneliness, and pain. And it’s now being told on stage in London’s West End and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Warning: upsetting footage
Tyke is a gripping new play that imagines the events leading up to the elephant’s tragic break for freedom. The story is performed using puppetry and theatrics in a show that will raise questions about morality, love, power, and human nature.
The play was written by Rebecca Monks and is co-directed by Madison Maylin and Madelaine Cunningham. It will be showing in London from 20 to 22 July at the Arts Theatre in the heart of London’s West End. Get tickets here. And will be at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 6 to 27 August. Find performance times here.
Tyke’s unhappy life ended in a shower of bullets, but for many other animals, the nightmare continues. In England and Wales, until the government implements the promised ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, it’s perfectly legal for travelling circuses to keep elephants, lions, tigers, and other wild animals, carting them around inside cages and forcing them to perform.
Please speak out and urge politicians to start protecting animals from abuse in the name of entertainment.
