Equus

When Peter Shaffer’s play about a boy who mutilates horses first opened in 1973 it was considered confronting, shocking, and disturbing. It still is, but the word exhilarating must be added, because of this production. This is theatre at its finest; an astonishing collaboration of text, performance and direction. To be prosaic, it’s bloody marvellous.

Like most great plays, there is a theme carried in the subtext. This time the theme is passion, and the price we have to pay for it; do we live with all our senses or simply exist?  Psychiatrist Dysart has settled for a mediocre and passionless life. His sanity is what makes him yearn for more. Enter Alan Strang, a boy who has blinded six horses and yet worships a God of his own making, Equus. Alan is driven by passion that cannot find a normal outlet….but must the price of that passion be madness? As Dysart explores the path to killing Alan’s passion and restoring him to normalcy, he also has to face his own dry, dust-like choices, and the life he has let slip away. A powerful proposition we would all do well to explore.

Dysart and Alan carry the play, and Scott Middleton (Alan) and Jeremy Kewley (Dysart) give us performances that should be seen by every theatre goer everywhere. I have seen this play three times now (plus the film). Never have I seen it played with such intensity, power, rawness and vulnerability. Kewley’s Dysart is a man who is triggered by Strang’s passion to spill his guts in a way that leaves us (and him) naked. He is heart-breaking. Scott Middleton is nothing short of awesome in the truth of his portrayal of the sexual awakening of the 17 year old boy. It’s an astonishing performance from such a young actor. Both these actors reached for a place uncharted, somewhere above excellence, and they landed intact, though many of the audience, like myself, were shattered and in tears. In my peripheral vision I saw audience members literally sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes wide, mouths open and pin-prick tears etching their cheeks in slow motion. Nothing on stage was slow though. Kewley’s natural style is to work with frenetic energy and speed, and so the whole production gallops along (apologies). Is it good theatre to shatter an audience in such a way? Hell Yes…. It is the PRIME reason for independent theatre companies to exist. This production is not comfortable or safe; it’s far too dangerous to be seen on a main stage (where I have seen other, less confronting productions) and therein lies the conundrum. All should see it, but few will. That said, Director Chris Baldock does not aspire to main stage and compromise – only to excellence, and raising the bar with every production. I am in awe of his vision.

The supporting cast all contribute to the brilliance. Maggie Chretien is a fine naturalistic young actor who makes Jill a warm and compelling character; Soren Jensen is excellent as Alan’s stitched up father; and Amanda McKay brings great truth and emotion to Alan’s religiously fanatical mother. Special mention must be made of the wonderful horses and their choreography by Kelly Bray. They never leave the stage and their every move and twitch sharpen our insights into what is happening in Alan’s mind. It’s fitting that Baldock lets them take the final call at the end of the show.

Chris Baldock’s set is simple yet stunning:- a semicircular temple of stables, with orange crates instead of marble for columns. The horses stand on small packing case rostrums, like statues of the God Equus, and yet the hay bales anchor us firmly to their stalls and the present world. The steel platform hoofs and masks are stunning and evocative. And yes, The Mockingbird chairs are in evidence once more. I love that they have become a motif, a symbol of the incredible solidity and simplistic beauty of the company. Add Jason Bovaird’s brilliant lighting design and you have an offering that is so close to perfect, why seek comparisons? Its haunting beauty will stay with you for….well, until the next Mockingbird production. If you see one play for the rest of the year, make it Equus.

Coral Drouyn

Images (from top): Scott Middleton and Dylan Watson; Scott Middleton and Jeremy Kewley. Photographer: Chris Baldock.

More reading - Coral Drouyn interviews Jeremy Kewley.