Customer Reviews

Equus (New Longman Literature)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ostensibly the story of a doctor-patient relationship, Equus is just as limited by the therapist's suite as is Casablanca limited by the walls of Rick's Cafe. The genuis of Shaffer is that he manages to create characters so indelible and unforgettable that they leap out of the read page just as much or more as they do out of the performed page. Put another way, even without Burton in the cinema or Hopkins on Broadway, his Dr. Dysart connects with you. You can easily find yourself joining Dysart as he commences his therapy with Alan Strang. The who, what, when and where are quickly covered as we and Dysart learn that Strang's "presenting problem" is the fact he's just blinded six horses. The why consumes the virtual remainder of the play as we join Dysart in peeling down the oniony layers of Strang's psychosis. Ever the honest observer, Dysart readily admits the plain simple fact of human observational error. His problem -- our problem -- is that our ability to interact and help others is inherently limited by our own myopia. We can only see what we can only see. Fortunately, Dysart understands the problematic nature of probing someone else's consciousness.
How can we eliminate the bad without taking some of the good with it? What was it Strang thought he saw in the horses? What was it he was afraid they would see of him?
The answers to those questions are really best left to read or see a performance of this play. As Dysart might himself wryly observe: We all ultimately take our own trip to Cavalry.
For the here and the now, however, it bears noting that this play is one of the single greatest repositorities of quotable, rememberable lines in the English language.
And so: "What way is this? What dark is this? I cannot call it ordained of God. I cannot pay it so much homage. But there is chain in my mouth and it never comes out."
So, don't stop with Shaffer's Amadeus, read or see this one too.

I've just finished reading this version of Equus for the third time now, and I never get tired of it. I've also just finished a 23 page paper on Peter Shaffer for my play analysis class, and I have to tell you, Equus is a drama that I thouroughly enjoy. It's probably my favorite play because it deals with not only the subject of the human need for worship, but Equus is also about a search for faith, for Dysart and Alan. It deals with the concepts of religion as well; and being a Christian, I could apply my own teachings to the text. The basic synopsis is an adolescent boy named Alan Strang has committed a horrible crime of blinding six horses in a stable in southern England. After being taking to the local magistrates, he's dubbed as mentally ill (which he is), and is taken to Dr. Martin Dysart, a well-known and respected psychiatrist for evaluation. What unfolds from there, is such an engrossing story into Alan's primal mind and as to why he did this act, you won't believe. Equus speaks to everyone. The conflict for Dysart, who is "utterly worshipless" vs. Alan Strang who activlely and genuinely worships his god Equus is this: I can cure Alan of his illness and make him "Normal"; but how can I do it without stripping him of his genuine worship, which is the core of his life? The story will touch you and make you think, fundamentally. If you've never seen the show, find it somewhere near you and go see it; it's meant to be seen. I had the luxury of seeing it performed at the famously known Stratford Theatre Festival last year in Canada, and it blew me away. The play is quite simply, amazing.

Peter Shaffer, Equus (Penguin Drama, 1973)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Equus was contrasting the play itself to the blurb on the back, which talked about the play's theme being how convenience and falling away from religion led to the decline of modern civilization. Interesting because, read a different way, Equus has as one of its subtexts a rather blistering attack on religion. Something to mull over.

But the important bit is, how's the work itself? The simple answer: it's Peter Shaffer. That should be all you need to know. (For those unaware, Shaffer was also responsible for Amadeus, the play turned into the equally wonderful 1984 Best Picture Oscar winner, and the equally wonderful Five-Finger Discount, the film version of which is unfortunately impossible to find in America.) When you read Shaffer, you are going to find unforgettable characters in intriguing situations, and that's exactly what you get here. The protagonist, Dysart, is a therapist at a mental hospital. His newest charge, sixteen-year-old Alan Strang, has been sent to the institution after blinding six horses at the stable where he'd worked. Dysart's job is, of course, to find out what was going through Strang's mind as he did it. Getting to the answer requires talking to most of those surrounding the boy's life, piecing together what caused Strang's mind to snap (and how long he's been insane), and finally, figuring out the boy's worldview.

It's gripping stuff. About the only thing that can be said against the play (and this is really a niggle, at best) is that some of the minor characters, who by rights should have been major characters, are two-dimensional and could have used a bit of fleshing out. That said, however, Equus is a fantastic piece of work, and well deserves its lofty reputation. ****

This is one of the most dense, hard-hitting, catharsis-inducing, adjective-provoking works of modern theater and a keynote in contemporary literature. From the pen that scribbled the likes of Amadeus, Shaffer confronts such topics as teen sexuality, childhood imprinting and its effects upon later life, the sociology of religion, and other complex ideas in an interesting, visually stunning work. A great work from a great writer. I place this alongside other 20-th century theatrical masterpieces such as Miller's Death of a Salesman, Norman's 'Night Mother, Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Baraka's The Dutchman, and Sartre's No Exit.

Equus was the first of Shaffer's works that I had read and I'm happy for the opportunity. This play IS theatre; if you're not ready to be impacted, put this one down! This play deals with the mixture of parenting and religion, love and sex, the thin line between madness and normality...and all without preaching to the audience (a difficult task). The characters are realistically presented to the reader to the point that you can relate to them intimately. I continue to re-read this play because I can always find a new twist and it ultimately changes your view of people and psychology. Shaffer has become my model for skillful and realistic playwriting and characterization. BUY THIS ONE! Any playwright who passes his passion on to his audience like Shaffer is destined for continuous acclaim.

Truth be told, I got interested in the play because of Dan Radcliffe. Initially, the plot descriptions I had read didn't interest me that much. However, curiousity prevailed, and I am so grateful that I bought it.

It is an extremely thought provoking drama detailing the story of a therapist and his patient. Under close scrutiny, it brings to light the darker and more mysterious aspects of the human psyche, ethics, and the effects that parents could possibly have on their children.

I have only had the play for two weeks, and I have read it many times over. It is easy to read, yet the mental images it gives to the reader are astounding. I thoroughly recommend this book for ANYONE who enjoys theatre, particularly drama that has more beyond it's surface. This is a play that will stand up with the best of of them. From "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams to "Tartuffe" by Jean Baptiste Moliere, this is a play worth reading and performing over and over again.

This amazing play weaves an incredibly in-depth psyhchological mystery from a very minimalist set. The characters seem to jump from the book directly to your imagination. It's a great story that's hard to put down.

Equus is a hard-hitting dramatic work that will make readers question their beliefs in mental illness, religion (particularly Christianity), and the emotional and spiritual emptiness described in most adults as 'normal behavior.' Schaffer achieves a nearly unthinkable task at making his audience almost feel sympathy for Alan, a young man who has cruelly blinded six horses.

Along Dysart's (the psychiatrist who must discover why Alan has committed such a horrible crime) and the reader's journey through Alan's tortured life and mind, the reader comes to partially understand and all but accept Alan's deed as a man's faith betraying him. Dysart, paralelling Alan in the 'normal' world, experiences that loss of worship in a far different, yet equally devastating manner.

I suggest seeing the play performed if at all possible. Seeing Equus live-action truly brings it's horrific brilliance to life.

My GCSE (16+ exams) English coursework title - "What makes 'Equus' a powerful play?" After rattling on for 6 sides, I realised that I was never going to have enough time, energy left in my hand or ink left in my pen to complete the assignment. Everything about this play, the religion, sexual connotations and deep misunderstandings about the human mind contribute to a most disturbing atmosphere created by Schaffer, which works effectively to produce 'Equus'.

And just a note to anybody who had read the book, and something to encourage you future readers - look deeply into the names of the characters, Alan, Dora and Frank Strang. If you get out a name dictionary, you may discover something very interesting...

As the most well-known and acclaimed of Shaffer's plays, Equus definitely makes that reputation obvious as soon as you open the pages. As stylized and abstract as some of it is, it is nothing more than life changing. I saw a taped recording of it when Sir Anthony Hopkins played the role of Dysart, and it was brilliant, pure theatre. For theater-aficionados, this play should be in your script collection, no doubt! This is a play in which the audience is so spellbound that they have an extremely difficult time averting their eyes from the stage. For any directors or actors out there in a theatre production group, perform this play......no inhibitions needed!