Laughter is the best medicine...
The Grinning Man is an English musical with a book by Carl Grose, music by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler, and lyrics by Carl Grose, Tom Morris, Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler, based on Victor Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs. It premiered in 2016 at the Bristol Old Vic Theater, and opened on the West End in 2017. The original Old Vic production was streamed on Youtube during the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic.
The Grinning Man tells the story of Grinpayne, a man whose face was permanently carved into a hideous grin one snowy and terrible night when he wasn't even 10 years old. 20 years later, he, his love Dea, a blind girl, and their adoptive father Ursus travel to the capital city to join the freak show-style fair that resides there. Grinpayne and Dea perform in a dramatized version of the events surrounding Grinpayne's maiming, which includes how he found Dea as a baby in the snow and how Ursus found them and decided to raise them both. Grinpayne wants desperately to know who he is, where he comes from, and who did this horrible thing to him, but he remembers nothing from the night he was cut or before besides what Ursus has told him. But as The Grinning Man's show becomes more popular with those who come to the fair, new secrets come to light, and old memories can't be held down any longer.
The Grinning Man provides examples of:
- Adaptational Name Change: Ursus' wolf becomes Mojo instead of Homo, Fermain "Gwynplaine" Concharlie becomes Gwynplaine "Grinpayne" Trelaw, and King James and his successor Queen Anne become Clarence and Angelica (see Alternate History below).
- Aerith and Bob: You have somewhat common English names like Angelica, Josiana, and David next to Latin names like Ursus and Dea, and then there's Grinpayne, also called Gwynplaine, Hazlitt, and Barkilphedro.
- All-Knowing Singing Narrator: Barkilphedro the clown, though he also participates in the story proper.
- Alternate History: The show handwaves Hugo's original vaguely historical setting into an entire alternate version of England where the royal palaces are located in Catford (a suburb in real life) and the real world's stately Trafalgar Square is instead sleazy Trafalgar Fair. The demented royal family take the place of the historical King James and Queen Anne, with Angelica being outright mad as opposed to Anne's historical depression.
- Amnesiac Hero: Grinpayne remembers nothing of his life before Ursus found him except what Ursus has told him
- Bandaged Face: Grinpayne, until he gets a fancy new red mask in Act 2
- Beneath the Mask: Literally and figuratively what Grinpayne is questioning for the entire show; is he nothing but the monster his face would indicate, or is there more?
- Blind and the Beast: Dea and Grinpayne, emphasized by the song "Beauty and the Beast"
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Grinpayne angsts and broods, Dea comforts and encourages him.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Between Josiana and David. The former calls it an ancient royal tradition, but Angelica is disgusted by it, demanding Josiana put an end to it and find another man to marry.
- BSoD Song: "I Am The Freak Show", as Grinpayne completely breaks down in anguish at not knowing who or what he is (and it's only Act 1!)
- Character Tics: Grinpayne is constantly crouching down low to the ground for seemingly no reason
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: All characters except Dea have this to a degree, but Ursus has it the worst.
- Dance Battler: A side effect of Grinpayne's actor Louis Maskell's dance training; the sword fight between him and David Dirry-Moir is surprisingly graceful
- Dark and Troubled Past: Grinpayne and Dea, most obviously. A few throwaway lines at the beginning indicate that Angelica may have had one of these as well.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Both Grinpayne and Dea have somewhat unsettling appearances (he with his permanent smile, her with her white eyes and hair) but they are the most morally upright characters in the show.
- Darker and Edgier: Most of Grinpayne's backstory is far more traumatic than it was in the novel (which still involves a young boy's face being carved into).
- Dramatic Unmask: Grinpayne takes off his mask several times during the show, each more dramatic than the last. Barkilphedro also dramatically unmasks himself as the person who's been torturing Ursus.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: All of the actors are wearing pale makeup that gives them quite a deathlike pallor, but this trope is most fully in effect with Grinpayne and Osric.
- Facial Horror: GRINPAYNE
- Fan Disservice: Played for Laughs with Barkilphedro's "erotic breakfast dance" ordered by Josiana. She tries to get him to make it more appealing, but orders him to stop before very long because "It's like watching a cockroach trying to have a wank."
- Fantastic Drug: Crimson Lethe, the medicine Grinpayne takes, is made of mostly made-up ingredients that act as a powerful painkiller with the unfortunate side effect of suppressing the memories of whoever takes it.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Their introduction in the palace is NOT the first time Grinpayne has met Barkilphedro.
- The Freak Show: The Stokes Croft/Trafalgar Fair (Bristol/London). Notable attractions besides the eponymous Grinning Man include Wooden Mary, a Pickled Horse, and Hubert and his Anal Snake.
- Freakiness Shame: Josiana is attracted to Grinpayne because of his face, not in spite of it.
- Freaky Is Cool: Everyone's reaction to Grinpayne, if it's not Josiana's instant lust, is this.
- Ghost Song: "Hymn of the Hanged Man", sung by a dead hanged traitor to a child Grinpayne.
- Glasgow Grin: Grinpayne (or rather, his novel counterpart) may be the Ur-Example
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Dea’s only outfit for the entire show is varying shades of purple, and she’s the kindest and most gentle character of them all.
- The Grotesque: Grinpayne, at least in the face.
- "I Am" Song: "I Am The Freak Show". "Only A Clown" is also an example of this.
- Karma Houdini: After mutilating a young boy, torturing multiple people, and scheming his way to the top, Barkilphedro gets off scot-free.
- Lighter and Softer: The ending is happier and more hopeful than it's book counterpart,
- Malevolent Mutilation: Though Barkilphedro calls it a kindness, Grinpayne's mutilation is really this.
- Monster Mouth: The prosthetic of Grinpayne's real mouth has many more teeth than a human mouth should.
- Official Couple: Grinpayne and Dea
- Overly Long Gag: Barkilphedro insisting on Grinpayne taking just a bit more of the crimson lethe
- Point-and-Laugh Show: The main conceit of the Stokes Croft/Trafalgar Fair before The Grinning Man comes along. There's even a whole song about it ("Laughter is the Best Medicine").
- Perpetual Smiler: Grinpayne, quite unwillingly.
- Precision F-Strike: Barkilphedro's quiet "Oh shit" before collapsing in response to Angelica demanding the one responsible for Grinpayne's disfigurement who happens to be Barkilphedro himself to be brought to her to learn the true meaning of pain and suffering. Also "Ever since I put a penny in that motherfucker's hat" from David after all his titles were stripped from him and given to Grinpayne.
- Quest for Identity: Grinpayne's main motivation.
- Related in the Adaptation: David is now Josiana and the Queen's brother, rather than just Josiana's fiancè. And yes, that means what you think it does. (This also reverses a plot point from the book, where he was Gwynplaine's brother instead.)
- Rewatch Bonus: When Barkilphedro admits Grinpayne's story doesn't make him feel anything, Angelica orders him to retell it until it does. This gives some context to his role as the All-Knowing Singing Narrator as well as his hatred of the opening song and lines like "I thought I was thinking."
- Symbolic Mutilation: Grinpayne's, although not so much for Grinpayne himself as for the person who cut his face, the decidedly not funny or smile-inspiring clown Barkilphedro.
- Tenor Boy: In voice part and character function if not in attitude, Grinpayne is a Tenor Boy through and through, singing impressively high notes and carrying the story along.
- Would Hurt a Child: B A R K I L P H E D R O
- Your Worst Memory: Grinpayne relives the night his faces was cut after throwing away the Crimson Lethe that made him forget.
