Despite its age, Equus remains a deeply disturbing and provocative play interweaving sex, desire, mental health, capitalism and even horse gods together in a terrific study of psychology and the morality of psychiatric treatment. Over fifty years since its debut, this new staging, at Menier Chocolate Factory, blends stunning physicality with deft individual performances to produce a captivating production.
While the plot is initially catalysed by trouble teen Alan Strang’s (Noah Valentine) horrific blinding of horses in a seemingly impulsive and violent fit of rage, the piece pivots as psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Toby Stephens) begins to question the morality of his role as Alan’s ‘cure’, and whether the mentally-ill identity of the boy is a purer form of identity to the sanitised one society wants Dysart to provide.
As Dysart, Stephens is assured in bringing to the fore the psychiatrist’s own anxieties and complexities. Dysart is also wrestling with a failing marriage and increasingly disturbing dreams blending mythology and sacrificial rituals of children, and as a result, his developing sense of unease bubbles nicely within Stephens’s portrayal. While this is best seen in his incredibly tense interactions with Strang, Dysart’s anguish is also clear in his conflicting interactions with Hester (Amanda Abbington), a long-time colleague but also someone who pushes for Strang to be cured rather than cared for, with a sense of moral superiority and duty that Abbington performs well and in a manner which frustrates the psychiatrist.
As Alan, however, Noah Valentine steals the show in a gripping individual performance that Valentine throws himself completely into. Alan’s repressed sexual desires and complicated blending of religious faith with horse-based idolatry are both fascinating and disturbing, with Valentine’s careful portrayal enabling Strang’s violence and brutality to be clear but also with an aura of vulnerability. Stripped and riding on horseback, it would be easy to write the performance and play off as going for a shock factor, yet this is handled with great care, and with artistic beauty, by Valentine and director Lindsay Posner, helping to evoke Dysart’s own ideas within the audience about Strang’s fragility and the purity of his self, even in its most unsettling moments.
Yet it is the ensemble cast, put together by movement director James Cousins, which defines this piece. Consisting of five men, the performers move as one, representing the horses and Horse God that come to haunt, horrify and control Alan, building to the play’s violent crescendo. It is a beautiful crafting of choreography, where the five evoke the horses in a blend of animalistic and human movement, visually representing the tormented psyche of Alan, yet bringing a grace and beauty that contradicts the troubling actions around them. This is particularly impactful during Alan’s first solo ride, resulting in a combination of erotic desire and innocent thrill that is both utterly unsettling and yet completely captivating. It also works effectively within Paul Farnsworth’s minimal set, with wooden blocks, benches and chairs all framing the thrust stage in a manner which intensifies the focus on the characters, fiercely spotlighting their traits and flaws in an interrogative way.
The production is also bolstered by its strong characterisation. Colin Mace’s Frank, Alan’s flawed father, refuses to adapt to modern life (hence Alan’s obsession with TV), while Emma Cunniffe shines as the religiously devout mother, Dora, unable to see how her own troubled marriage has impacted her son. Meanwhile, Bella Aubin’s Jill, Alan’s love interest, is effective and a neat contrast in looking at teenage love and passion in a more conventional manner, again helping to propel Alan’s differences further.
Posner’s staging of Shaffer’s classic, then, feels exciting and fresh despite still being very much rooted in its 70s heritage. The cultural references remain, yet the interrogation of mental health, psychiatric treatment and individual desire feels pertinent today. This is not an easy watch, but it produces a thrilling and engrossing piece of theatre.
