Equus is a play that doesn’t happen easily. With intense subject matter, complex characters, and directorial challenges throughout, I was excited and intrigued to see how director Sam Essame and his team had tackled the famously challenging task of putting on this show.
Welcomed into the the Drama Barn by a simple, wood-based set, we were greeted by two actors, one man and one adorned with a horse mask, stood nose to nose, mirroring the simple design of the poster that had been used to promote the show. The cast sat to the sides of the stage and remained there for the majority of the performance: this was perhaps one of the few things I question the effectiveness of, as although it helped illustrate the ‘building’ of the plot as actors dropped in and out of the story by stepping on and off the set, for some characters it felt an unnecessary addition to the overall aesthetic of the piece.
Having said that, the play as a whole was very difficult to fault. The scene changes were slick, the lines well learnt, and generally the pace was appropriate and engaging, the only hiccups entirely explainable by first night jitters.
The actors successfully created an encompassing atmosphere, beginning in the office of Martin Dysart, played by Ben Kawalec. The plot followed his care of a disturbed young man, Alan Strang (Callum Sharp) after old friend Hesther Salomon (Caitlin Burrows) requests his aid. Burrows’ performance was well-rounded and fiery, her stance as a strong and rational woman expressed clearly in her interaction with Kawalec. It was a shame that Burrows did not have more stage time as it would have been interesting to see the development of her character, however this is not at the fault of the director or cast, who did well to develop a character who was interesting and fun to watch with a relatively small amount of material.
Kawalec’s Dysart was similarly a joy to watch. As the narrative was from his point of view, he had much more room to develop a character, but this was by no means an easy feat. Kawalec successfully portrayed many different facets of his character meaningfully and effectively, differentiating clearly between the various mental states his character experienced. With every word spoken with clarity and feeling, Kawalec both built and re-built his relationship with the audience as we moved from a gentle neutrality to an actual emotional investment in his story. Kawalec embodied the many different emotions that his character would have gone through in real life so thoroughly that I found myself justifying his actions within the play as if he were a real psychiatrist, defending his underlying neuroticism and slightly uneasy nature as ‘a trait of the job.’
His relationship with Burrows’ character was believable, and both actors stood strong against each other. Particular mention must go to the relationship built between Dysart and Alan Strang (Callum Sharp). These are characters that appear so different to begin with and throughout the story begin to grow similarities; the relationship was strained to just the correct amount, just familiar and yet still awkward.
Sharp’s performance as the disturbed boy was arguably the most challenging of all the parts, however he succeeded in creating a character that, although terrifying in many ways, was still someone who the audience could sympathise with. His quick, snappy movements and line delivery kept the pace of the production up, and his smaller twitches and movements allowed the audience to see just the small hints of the ’horse’ idea seep into his character. Alan was well developed and clearly conflicted, his vocal quality and physicality both changing enough to make his varying levels of trust towards Dysart palpable.
At this point, I would like to commend the whole team for their professionalism and confidence when tackling this play. The nudity was presented in a way that was relevant to the script and supported by confident and calm performances from Sharp and Sarah Warham, who played Jill Mason, Strang’s love interest. In contrast to Sharp’s somewhat frantic demeanour, Warham remained calm and collected in her role, capturing a light, fun personality that was almost unique within the story. Warham found a balance between playful and fun and the much darker, more serious, scared side of her character.
All the actors spoke with clarity and precision, and overall every actor seemed to understand who their character was, and why they were doing what they were. Gabriel Elston and Annabel Redgate as Frank and Dora Strang, Alan’s parents, both gave convincing performances as an upright printer and a religious ex-teacher. Both captured the particular qualities of their characters, although they had a tendency to seem a tad unfamiliar with one another. Leo Clasen and Lizzie Bernardo filled supporting roles as Mr Dalton and the nurse – both were clear and unimposing, supporting the action taking place around them.
Now, Equus would not be Equus without the horses. In a bold decision, the horses were represented by the “Horse Chorus”, comprising of Max Manning, Esme Pitts, Ben Young, and Jacob Hobbins. All dressed in matching trousers and brown sweatshirts, they were all wore beautifully hand-made horse masks. They adopted a physicality that obviously had been practiced to near perfection, and that was then kept up throughout the performance. Each actor had small actions that even as horses made them identifiable, and the soundscape created by the scrapping of “hooves” and the whistling of air as they breathed made them not only believable but interesting to watch. This was extremely well done and one of the highlights of the show, as it required a skill that was clearly developed over a long period of time, and something that was thought through effectively with much care.
Stylistically, the show succeeded on many levels. The lighting was well designed by Izzy Marsh and used to its full potential. The use of snap blackouts and slow fades helped to create and maintain tension, especially at the interval when we were snapped into darkness as Alan was left riding Nugget the horse, and then returned to the same freeze frame that began the show. The soundscape was also well designed with the use of classical music underpinning the overall themes of the play. I would have considered using more music overall as it was so effective when used that a constant drone may have just played upon the slight uneasiness within the audience.
Equus is one of the best shows I have seen in the Barn – the production was worthy of the rousing applause it received. The characters were believable, the relationships generally solid and the aesthetic atmospheric. It was a well rounded, impactful show that I really did enjoy, and would recommend to anyone wanting to see an example of high standard student theatre.
Equus by Peter Shaffer is in the Drama Barn Saturday February 6 and Sunday February 7. Tickets available on the door or at yusu.org