Shaffer’s critically acclaimed play is done justice by this solid production, but occasional sloppiness means it falls short of being exceptional.
On the 40th anniversary of the play’s debut, and coming several years after Daniel Radcliffe successfully reprised the lead role of Alan Strang in London, earning himself award nominations, Nomadic Artists have bought the English ritual drama to the stages of the Sydney Fringe Festival.
Alan, played by Michael Brindley, is a withdrawn and tetchy 17-year-old who has been convicted of brutally blinding six horses at the stables he worked in. The magistrate, Hesther (Lyn Lee) brings Alan to burnt-out psychiatrist Dysart (played by Martin Portus) and urges him to take the boy on as a patient. Dysart meets heavy resistance from Alan in his initial attempts to lay the groundwork for therapy, with the latter aggressively rebuffing him, making insightful critiques of Dysart’s own neuroses or else resorting to speaking only in patterns of advertising jingles.
However, as Dysart begins to open up more of himself and make himself vulnerable too, Alan begins to trust him and the therapy makes headway. As we watch the power balance between patient and therapist shift back and forth we are taken through a detective-like narrative as Dysart traces the source of Alan’s proclivities back to the trauma experienced when his worship of Jesus was taken from him and he filled the void with horses.
The dynamic between Brindley and Portus in these roles was very good and held together what at times were some shaky offerings from the support roles of Alan’s mother Dora (Jeannie Gee), her caricatured husband Frank (James Moir) and Alan’s love interest Jill (Brindley Meyer). There were quite a number of stumbles over lines, with corrected repetitions really taking us out of the action.
Shaffer engages in some questionable romanticisation of mental illness and pain, as Dysart’s character vacillates over the good therapy ultimately can do if it requires carving out elements of individuality from an ill mind. He also unfavourably compares his repressed bourgeois life and passionless marriage with the terrible zest Alan feels. These monologues of Dysart’s were tight and punchy to begin with but became somewhat long-winded and repetitive as the play progressed. The overt religious symbolism and its presence in the relationship between Alan and his mother as well as Alan and Dysart, who assumes a kind of spiritual father figure, felt like overkill on occasion.
As for Michael Campbell’s direction, the use of minimalist, metal frames worn on the torso by actors to outline the horses worked effectively without being tacky. This was matched by a very minimal set, incorporating only two wooden pillars that were moved alternatively between being vertical and horizontal to indicate a change in location. At times the set was a little too sparse, making the transitions harder to believe, especially as large portions of the action are interspersed with or even concurrent with narration. There were some overly sentimental choices in music, with the choral voices seeming a bit naff. To the dismay of everyone, just at the climax of the play when Alan is acting out the trauma that caused his violence, the fire alarm went off in the theatre. The cast tried valiantly to persevere but the theatricality was utterly destroyed by this interruption.
Nevertheless, one hopes the performance will improve without these distractions; it is certainly worth seeing.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Equus
By Peter Shaffer
Director/Co-Designer: Michael Campbell
Producer: Elliott Marsh – Nomadic Artists
Executive Producer: Peg Thatcher
Co-Designer: Tobhiya Feller
Composer: Jessica Wells
Sound: Gary Dryza
Lighting: Liam O’Keefe
Stage Manager: Lillian U
Cast: Martin Portus, Michael Brindley, Lyn Lee, Jeannie Gee, James Moir, Brindley Meyer, Lucas Glover, Anthony Finch, Sam Xu, Chris Combes, Drew Miatov and Haj Sidki
Italian Forum Cultural Centre, Leichhardt
11 – 28 September
Sydney Fringe
2013.sydneyfringe.com
6 – 29 September
