Theatre and Dance Reviews

I was surprised to find that Peter Shaffer's "Equus"had not been revived in the West End until the recent production which starred Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths. Now it's touring with Alfie Allen as Alan Strang and the excellent Simon Callow as psychiatrist Martin Dysart.

The play was written after Shaffer heard how a stable lad had blinded six horses in a Suffolk stable. That is the only connection between the play and the incident: the rest is a speculative piece of theatre which provides a thoroughly challenging, yet breathtaking experience.

Alfie Allen in Equus

Rather than be jailed for the terrible mutilation of the horses, Strang is sent to child psychiatrist Martin Dysart. Without giving too much away the boy has started to worship a horse god called Equus and the stable has become his temple.

Secretly he takes out a horse called Nugget and creates a sexual and physical union: a kind of worship Dysart can only dream of. It is the counterpoint between the analysed and the analyst that makes "Equus" so powerful.

Alan's situation is created by a fusion of childhood experiences and repressions. A zealously religious mother, a hypocritically puritanical father and a physical passion for horses create a devotion brought crashing down by a fumbled sexual experience in the "temple". The horses have seen his trangression and he blinds them.

The six horses are created with use of superb golden masks and special hooves. The effect, enhanced with smoke and lighting as well as clever movement, is breathtaking.

Much of the set is minimalist except for the stable boxes from which the horses appear.

Strang and Callow are excellent, with fine support from experienced Canadian actress Linda Thorson as Heather Salamon, the magistrate. The part of Alan Strang is a difficult one for a young actor. He's supposed to be seventeen but this is a part that tests any young actor.

Alfie Allen in Equus

Shaffer has picked Alfie Allen after seeing him in the film "Atonement". His choice is justified with a brilliantly menacing performance. Simon Callow guides us expertly through the twist and turns of the psychological battle between the two.

In the past some have criticised the play because of its cruelty to horses, others for its cruelty to psychiatrists. In the end Dysart can "mend" Alan, yet he envies him the passion of his worship. Alan worships a physical god in Equus rather than an invisible God.

"Equus" still shocks and is still controversial. All these years on, judging from the number of young people in the theatre, it would appear to have gained respectability as an A Level text. The young people shared the rapture of the evening.

If you like your theatre to be challenging and stimulating "Equus" is for you. It is one of the best pieces of "modern" theatre, and, unlike many of its contemporaries it hasn't dated, although Shaffer has made a few linguistic tweaks to remove some seventies colloquialisms.

The play does contain nudity and strong language.