DANVILLE - For those who like their theater powerful and moving, this weekend's Red Mask Players' production of "The Elephant Man" promises to deliver.

The show will be presented Friday and Saturday at the Kathryn Randolph Theater. Tickets are $25 for the Friday event, which begins at 7 p.m. with a reception and refreshments, followed by the show at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, a 6:30 p.m. reception with hors d'oeuvres and wine happens before the show at 8. Tickets are $50, a portion of which is tax deductible.

For information or to purchase tickets, call 442-5858.

The husband and wife team of Ed and Donna Sant, known in Danville community theater for decades, has respectively directed and produced this production for the 2005 Red Mask fund-raiser.

The Sants crafted every decision - including the choices of the script, actors, set and costumes - to provide the caliber of entertainment that has become synonymous with Red Mask.

"We looked at many more conventional shows," Ed Sant said. "We wanted something that would challenge the actors and make a strong statement to the audience."

He described the universal and timeless message of "The Elephant Man."

"People are all different on the outside," he said, "but inside, we're all the same. We have the same wants, hopes, desires as one another. This show's message speaks to everyone."

Based on a true story, "The Elephant Man" spotlights John Merrick, a Victorian-era Englishman disfigured by the rare Proteus syndrome. He spent years as a virtual slave in a freak show until physician Sir Frederick Treves rescued him.

Although society and the medical community ridiculed the doctor's efforts, Merrick experienced life outside a sideshow for the first time under Treves' care.

Merrick taught those he met as much, if not more, than he himself learned.

David Laker considers his role as Dr. Treves "one of the best parts I've ever had. I'm known mostly for comic and musical roles," he said. "This has taken restraint. I don't want to let the other people in the cast, the audience or myself down.

"Most of all, I don't want to let Treves down."

Chad Combs, cast as the deformed Merrick after only one previous appearance in a play, exuded enthusiasm about his character.

"(Merrick) was a brilliant man with a huge imagination," Combs said. "In the mid-1800s, there was 10 to 20 times the lack of acceptance of people who looked different than there is today. He was ridiculed, but all he wanted was to be normal and accepted."

Lorraine Morgan plays Mrs. Kendal, an actress and socialite who befriended Merrick and related to him as a human being rather than a curiosity.

"He remained gracious and dignified despite what people had done to him," Morgan said. "It's hard to imagine the suffering that man went through."

Brian Morgan, a University of Illinois junior from Oakwood, designed the show's set and appears in the play.

"The set itself is simplistic," Morgan said. "It's a big drape, with most of the effects coming from projection. This show is about complex characters. The set accentuates them, lets them take over the stage."

Brian Morgan will study scenic technology next year, but said, "I love to act. I consider myself a performer."

He feels "The Elephant Man" reflects part of his own life experience.

"I started out as a sports person in high school," Morgan said. "I became interested in theater. That went against the grain for a lot of people. We all feel different, isolated at times in our lives."

Lorraine Morgan (not related to Brian Morgan) believes this show "will give the audience a piece of someone else's life. It's a chance to understand the universal humanity of all people."