Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who tries to treat a young man with a pathological religious interest with a horse.
Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard about a crime involving a 17-year-old boy who blinded six horses in a small town near Suffolk. He set out to build a fictitious account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing the details of his crime. The act of drama is something of a detective story, involving the efforts of a child psychiatrist. Martin Dysart to understand the cause of the boy's actions when grappling with his own life purpose.
The original production stage ran at the National Theater in London between 1973 and 1975, directed by John Dexter. Alec McCowen plays Dysart, and Peter Firth plays Alan Strang. Then came the Broadway production starring Anthony Hopkins as Dysart (later played by Richard Burton, Leonard Nimoy, and Anthony Perkins) and from London production, Peter Firth as Alan. When Firth left for Broadway, Dai Bradley took over Alan's role in London production, playing against Michael Jayston as Dr. Dysart. Tom Hulce replaced the Firth during the Broadway run. Broadway production ran for 1,209 shows. Marian Seldes appeared in every Broadway show, first in the role of Hesther and later as Dora. Shaffer also adapted his work for the 1977 film of the same name.
Many other issues inform narration. The most important is the theme of religious sacrifices and rituals, and the way in which Alan Strang's character builds a private theology involving the highest horses and deity, "Equus". Alan saw the horses as God's representatives and disrupted his worship of his "God" with sexual attraction. Also important is Shaffer's examination of the conflict between personal values ​​and the satisfaction and customs of society, hopes and institutions. Referring to the classical structure, theme, and characterization of the drama, Shaffer has discussed the conflict between Apollonian and Dionysian values ​​and systems in human life.
Video Equus (play)
Ringkasan plot
Babak 1
Martin Dysart is a psychiatrist in a mental hospital. He started with a monologue in which he described the 17-year-old Alan Strang case, which blinded six horses. She also expressed her feelings that her work was not all she wanted and her feelings of discontent and disappointment about her barren life. Dysart found that the supply of troubled young people for him to "adjust" back to "normal" life would never end, but he doubted the value of treating these youths, for they would only return to a boring and normal life of no commitment and " worship "(a recurring theme). He comments that Alan Strang's crime is extreme, but adds that such extremities are needed to break free of the chain of existence.
The court judge, Hesther Saloman, visited Dysart, believing he had the skills to help Alan understand what he was doing. At the hospital, Dysart had great difficulty in making any progress with Alan, who initially responded to the question by singing a jingle of TV commercials.
Dysart reveals his dreams, in a Greek/Homer setting, where he is a public official leading the sacrifice of mass rituals. The Dysart wedge opened the stomachs of hundreds of children, and pulled out their entrails. He becomes disgusted with what he does, but his fears are killed in the same way as the children if he is found as "unbelievers" by other priests, so he does not stop. Eventually the other priests, aware of his doubts, took a knife from his hand before he woke up from the dream.
Dysart interviewed Alan's parents. He learned that, from an early age, Alan had accepted conflicting points of view about religion from his parents. Alan's mother, Dora, is a devout Christian who has read it daily from the Bible. This practice has been hostile to Alan's father, Frank, an unbeliever.
Slowly, Dysart makes contact with Alan by playing games in which each of them poses questions, which must be answered honestly.
Dysart learns that Frank, concerned that Alan has been too much interested in the harsher aspects of the Bible, destroyed a rough picture of the Crucifixion that Alan hung at his bedside. Alan replaced the picture with one of the horses, with large eyes staring.
Alan reveals to Dysart that during his youth he has built his interest in horses through his mother's biblical stories, the horses he reads for him, the Western movies, and his grandfather's interest in horses and horseback riding. Alan's sexual training begins with his mother telling him that he can find true love and satisfaction by religious devotion and marriage. During this time, Alan also began to develop sexual interest in horses, wanted a thick coat, felt muscular body, and smelled sweat. Alan reveals to Dysart that he first discovered a horse at the age of six, on the beach. A rider approaches him, and takes him on a horse. Alan looks excited, but his parents find him and Frank pulls him roughly from the horse. Horseman ridiculed his father and left.
Dysart hypnotized Alan, and during hypnosis, Dysart reveals his frightening dream element about the ritual murder of children. Dysart starts jogging Alan's memory by filling in the blanks, and asking questions. Alan reveals that he wants to help the horses by throwing away a bit, which enslaves them.
After 17, Alan works in a shop selling electrical goods, where he meets Jill Mason, a passionate and free-spirited young woman. He visited a shop that wanted to buy a knife for horse scissors. Alan is instantly interested when he discovers that Jill has close contact with the horse after she tells him that she works for a stable local owner. Jill suggests that Alan work for the stables owner, Harry Dalton, and Alan agrees.
Dysart meets with Dalton, who tells him that he first held Alan to become a model worker, as he kept the stables clean and horseback, including the Nugget. Through Dysart's question, it became apparent that Alan erotically glued to the Nugget (or 'Equus') and secretly took it to the midnight, saddle and naked vehicle. Alan also imagined himself as a king, at the head of the god, Equus, both destroying their enemies.
Round 2
Dysart gave Alan the "truth pill" placebo. Revealing a meeting with Jill, she began re-enacting the event. Jill, interested in Alan, has asked her to take her to a pornographic movie. While there, they both meet Frank. Alan was traumatized, especially when he realized that his father was lying when he tried to justify his presence in the theater. However, this incident allowed Alan to realize that sex is a natural thing for all men... even his father. Alan walks back to Jill's house after they leave. He convinces Alan to come to the stable with him.
Once there, Jill teases Alan and two guys who are not dressed and are trying to have sex. However, Alan broke this when he heard the horses make a vote in the lower cage, which he decided was the reason for his inability to get an erection. Jill tries to ask Alan what the problem is, but she yells at him to leave. After Jill's dress and walking out of the stable, the naked Alan begs the horse for forgiveness, for he sees the horses as God-like figures. "Mine!... You're mine!... I'm yours and you're mine!" cries Equus through Dysart's voice, but then he becomes threatening: "God, your Lord is a jealous God," Equus/Dysart looked, "He sees you, he sees you forever, Alan He sees you!... He sees you!" Alan shouted, " God saw " and then he said, "Not anymore, Not anymore, Equus!" Alan then uses a steel spike to blind the six horses in the cage, whose eyes have "seen" his soul.
The last scene has another monologue by Dysart questioning the basics of his practice and whether or not what he does really will help Alan, because the effects of his treatment will make him "normal" at the expense of his humanity.
Maps Equus (play)
Original Broadway production
The drama opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theater on October 24, 1974, ending on September 11, 1976. It was opened at the Helen Hayes Theater on October 5, 1976, ending on October 2, 1977, for a total of 1,209 shows.
Movie adaptation
Shaffer adapted the drama for the 1977 film starring Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Eileen Atkins, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, and Jenny Agutter, directed by Sidney Lumet. Unlike stage production, where horses are portrayed by human actors, often muscular men wearing tribal-style masks, Lumet does not believe this is enough to do in the film version, summing up the level of realism required, "because in reality he [Alan] is being watched over creates a dilemma in her. "
Comparing movies to play, British Professor James M. Welsh feels using real horses in the film is understandable, but argues the outdoor scene violates the "abstract theater design" that gives the creativity of play. Welsh also feels that blinding is explicitly "potentially disgusting", and "most of the game's spirit is lost as a consequence."
Revivals
The premiere of the Midwest of Equus opened in March 1978 in Lansing, Michigan, at the Boarshead Theater. Directed by John Peakes, he features Richard Thomsen as Dysart, David Kropp as Alan, Carmen Decker as Dora, and Lisa Hodge as Jill. The local controversy over the naked scene is largely reduced by the casting of married couples as Jill and Alan. This production then won the Boarshead Theater annual award for Best Production and Best Supporting Actor (Kropp).
Equus was also presented in Baltimore in 1979 by Lovegrove Alley Theater. This production starred pre-Broadway Charles S. Dutton in the role of Dysart. Director Brad Mays did a double job in the role of Alan Strang. A young actress named Lauren Raher plays Jill Mason, and her real life mother, Rhona Raher, plays Dora, Alan's mother.
Equus was revived in 2007 in West End by producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, starring Richard Griffiths, Daniel Radcliffe, and Joanna Christie in the lead role. The production was directed by Thea Sharrock, and opened in February 2007 at the Gielgud Theater. Production caught the attention of the press, as both Radcliffe and Griffiths appeared in the Harry Potter film series (as Harry Potter and Vernon Dursley, respectively). In particular, the 17-year-old casting of Radcliffe caused controversy because Alan Strang's role required him to appear naked on stage. Radcliffe insisted that the naked scene was not "haphazard" and that she should portray characters and scenes as requested by the script. The revival of London 2007 was then transferred to Broadway, at the Broadhurst Theater, which lasted until 8 February 2009. Radcliffe and Griffiths repeated their roles, and Thea Sharrock returned as director. The players also included Kate Mulgrew, Anna Camp, Carolyn McCormick, Lorenzo Pisoni, T. Ryder Smith, Graeme Malcolm, and Sandra Shipley, with Collin Steel, Tyrone Jackson, Spencer Liff, Adesola Osakalumi, and Marc Spaulding. Radcliffe eventually received a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Extraordinary Actors on a Play.
The first illustrations edition of the play script was produced as a large-format artist book by Old Stile Press, with pictures and cover by British artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins, in 2009.
Equus was revived in San Jose, California, in March 2011 at City Lights Theater Company. This production, featuring actors Sean Gilvary as Alan Strang and Steve Lambert as Martin Dysart, received a warm welcome. The Mercury News labeled Gilvary and Lambert as "haunting," declaring Gilvary "... exposing emotions and epidermis, riding unassisted in every way.He gradually managed to make a rather unattractive young creature seem not just sympathetic but exchanged while maintaining hostility and humanity. "Starkinsider considers the production of 4.5 out of 5 stars, calling Lambert" extraordinary "and having a" remarkable performance, "calling Gilvary" dazzling "and having" real ability to inhabit souls his character, like a troubled teenager. " that he describes, both he and Strang have a passion for something that is an inseparable part of their personality. "This production received a Classical Standards Production Award by the Silicon Valley Small Theater Awards.
Equus was revived in Houston, Texas, for a limited run in July 2014 at Frenetic Theater. Production is largely funded by donations at Kickstarter and well received by critics and spectators. The Broadway world calls the production 'dark, frightening and sensual' and praises the 'star players'. Houston Press said it was 'amazingly good... to be seen' while Culturemap recorded the show as one of the hottest shows of the year.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
References
Further reading
- Shaffer, Peter (2005). Equus . New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN: 978-0-7432-8730-2.
External links
- Equus on the Internet Broadway Database
- Equus on the Internet Broadway Database
- Equus (movies) in IMDb
- Second Generation Wow Audience With School Production Equus .Ã, - parody; Red Onion
- The audience is getting closer and personal to the naked debut of Harry Potter stars. The London Standard October 12, 2006. dead link
- Wolfe, G. Enjoying Equus : Jouissance in Shaffer's Play. PSYART: Journal of Hyperlinks for the Study of Art Psychology. December 15, 2009.
- Mahmood, R. Equus : Saves the best for last. The Express Tribune March 12, 2012.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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