Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist  who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious/sexual fascination with horses.

Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard of a crime involving a teenage boy who blinded six horses. He set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime. The play is essentially a detective story, with the psychiatrist trying to understand the cause of the boy’s actions while wrestling with his own sense of purpose.

The play is set in the office of psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Dysart.  It begins with a monologue from Dysart in which he outlines that the case of seventeen-year old Alan Strang is among the strangest with which he has ever dealt. He also divulges feelings that his occupation is not all that he wishes it would be. He sees so many troubled young people and there is a never-ending supply of them for him to “adjust”. A court official visits Dysart as she believes he has the skills in his profession to help Alan come to terms with a violent act he perpetrated. Alan had, seemingly inexplicably, blinded six horses at a stable in which he worked.

To begin with, Dysart has a great deal of difficulty making any kind of headway with Alan who responds to any kind of questioning by singing advertising jingles.. Slowly, Dysart makes contact with Alan by playing a kind of game where each of them asks a question which must be answered honestly. He finds out that from an early age Alan has been receiving conflicting viewpoints on religion from his parents. Dora Strang, a devout Christian and the mother of Alan, read to him daily from the Bible. This antagonizes Alan’s athiest father, Frank Strang, who, concerned that Alan took far too much interest in the more violent aspects of the Bible, specifically the crucifixion of Christ, takes out his frustration by destroying a picture of the crucifixion that Alan has at the foot of his bed. He replaced the picture with one of a horse.

In conversation with Dysart, Frank reveals that one night he saw Alan kneeling in front of the picture of the horse chanting a made-up genealogy of horses parodying that of Christ in the Bible. The list of names ends with “Equus.” Whilst kneeling, Alan takes a coat hanger and flagellates. Through further questioning of Alan, it is revealed that he made up for his lack of a focus for his worship by deifying horses. Alan believes that the spirit of Equus resides in all horses.

Alan has a job working in a shop selling electrical goods, where he meets Jill Mason. She visits the shop wanting blades for horse-clippers. Alan is instantly interested when he discovers that Jill has such close contact with horses. Jill suggests that Alan work for the owner of the stables, Harry Dalton, and Alan agrees.

Alan is held by Dalton to be a model worker, since he keeps the stables immaculately clean and grooms the horses, including one named “Nugget.” Through Dysart’s questioning, it becomes clear that Alan is erotically fixated on Nugget and secretly takes him for midnight rides. Alan rides him bareback and naked enjoying the feeling of the power of the animal and the smell of the sweat.

One day, Jill asks Alan to take her to a pornography theatre. While there, they run into Frank. They all leave embarrassed after giving weak excuses for their presence in the theater. However, this chance occurrence allows Alan to realize that sex is a natural thing that all men – even his father – do. Alan walks Jill home but Jill suggests that they go to the stables to have sex. Alan is very nervous in the stable as he hears the horses moving around. He is frustrated that his nervousness makes him unable to get an erection. He threatens Jill with a hoof pick and makes her leave the stable. When she is gone he blames the horses and the spirit of Equus for his embarrassment, and punishes the six horses by blinding them for seeing his shame.

The play concludes with Dysart questioning the fundamentals of his practice and whether or not what he does will actually help Alan.

Tom Hulce played the role of Alan Strang, and Anthony Perkins replaced Anthony Hopkins as Martin Dysart. Perkins was briefly replaced by Richard Burton for the star’s return to Broadway in New York City for a limited run. Perkins resumed the part when Burton’s run ended. The play received a Tony Award for best play in 1975.

In searching for images for this blog, I have learned that Daniel Radcliffe (star of Harry Potter) has starred in a modern version of this play in London which opened on February 27, 2007:

Posted on 31 Jan 07: Attracted to art Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has upset some parents of Potter fans by taking part in a stage performance of Peter Shaffer’s play Equus at London’s Gielgud Theatre.Publicity photos for the play show Radcliffe, 17, topless and buffed. He plays Strang, a troubled stablehand who one night blinds six horses with a hoofpick. The publicity shots were taken between filming of the fifth and sixth Harry Potter movies.  Equus, by Peter Shaffer, is the story of Dysart, a psychiatrist, who attempts to help a young man, Strang, who has an odd fascination with horses. As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy’s demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.Shaffer wrote Equus after hearing of a crime in which a teenage boy mutilated some horses. He play portrays what might have caused the crime. Randy Harrison, who starred in the play in 2005, described Equus as “one of the most significant English-language plays of the past 30 years. Anybody who hasn’t seen it or read it needs to, if they care at all about theater or literature.”

Danielle Radcliffe interviewed about Equus

deletereply wickedlyinnocent wrote on Jan 24, ’08 I’ve never seen Equus, alhough I find Peter Shaffer an extremely interesting playwright and I’ve seen Five Finger Exercise, The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Black Comedy on the stage. Amadeus I only saw on screen version. and  I must see Equus next time it is staged in Lisbon. Thanks for the  review, Laurita.

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Jan 24, ’08 Despite the “revealing” nature this looks like a fascinating play. Thank you for telling us about it.

deletereply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jan 24, ’08 I saw this on Broadway when it came out. It was marvelous, very tough, difficult, the bottom line, everyone has pain and deals with it differently. Hey tell that guy up there to “cover up”!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jan 24, ’08, edited on Jan 24, ’08 Ok. I uploaded a different picture, don’t worry. but the nudity is part of the story.

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Jan 24, ’08, edited on Jan 24, ’08 lauritasita said Ok. I uploaded a different picture, don’t worry. but the nudity is part of the story. Wasn’t offended hon it is part of the story it was  just a play on words Though it was something to see Harry’s NAKED TRUTH LOL

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jan 24, ’08 But isn’t it amazing how much he’s grown ? I mean, from Harry Potter to this, I can’t get over the change.

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Jan 24, ’08 Well can I be honest I am probably one of very few that does not love Harry Potter but yes it is a dark drama and really stretches his talent.