Cast (In order of Appearance)
Alan Strang Juan Javier Cardenas
Nugget Yasin Sheikh
Martin Dysart Paul Whitworth*
Nurse Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris*
Hesther Salomon Randy Danson*
Frank Strang Douglas Jones*
Dora Strang Devora Millman*
Horseman Yasin Sheikh
Harry Dalton James Clarke*
Jill Mason Jessi Blue Gormezano
Horse Shane Austin
Horse Matt Brown
Horse Marcus Denard Johnson
Horse Troy Lewis
Horse Jennifer Logue
Stage Manager Marian Wallace*
Intern Assistant to the Stage Manager Danielle MacMonagle
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Setting
The main action of the play takes place in RokebyPsychiatric Hospital in Southern England. Some scenes take place in Alan’s memory.
Production Team
Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards
Director Michael Donald Edwards
Scenic & Costume Designer Clint Ramos
Lighting Designer Lap-Chi Chu
Sound Designer Robby MacLean
Choreographer Jimmy Hoskins
Vocal Coach Patricia Delorey
Assistant Director Ryan Clark
Casting Stuart Howard, Amy Schecter & Paul Hardt
Co-Producers
Patty and Doug Bradbury
Terry and Jim Chandler
Emily and Lawrence Levine
Flori Roberts
Mildred Stein
Linda and Robert Stovall
Synopsis
Troubled teenager Alan Strang commits an incomprehensible act of violence at the stable where he works, and is sent to psychiatrist Martin Dysart for help. But as Dysart tries to uncover the cause of Alan’s disturbing behavior, he is surprised by the vehement purity of Alan’s beliefs. Dysart’s own personal and professional crisis of conscience leads him to re-examine the question of what “abnormal” behavior really is. And the audience must ask themselves who truly needs healing – the boy or the man?
Director’s Notes - Michael Donald Edwards
Equus was first performed in 1973 and, despite being more than 30 years old, it has an even more profound impact now than when it was first produced. While it is true that it asks deep psychological questions – both of its characters and its audience – it offers much more than a simple debate about what constitutes “normal” social behavior. It is also a play whose energy and meaning comes from its inherent theatricality. In fact, Equus is a love song to theatre itself; it draws a visceral response from the audience because it makes them feel that they are truly part of a ritual experience. The first production even emphasized this physically by having part of the audience sit on the stage, surrounding the action as it took place in a central ring.
Other elements of the play also harken back to the very roots of theatre’s birth: the horses’ heads and feet mimic masks and other costume components used in the theatre of Ancient Greece. The play also requires chanting and synchronized movement from the actors portraying the horses. At its heart, there is an epic quality to Equus that invites the audience to uncover and become part of its mystery. As we follow the unfolding patterns of both Alan’s and Dysart’s struggles, we find that the two characters are essentially two sides of the same coin. They each represent a quality that cannot exist without the presence of its opposite, and the play requires us to become part of their journeys and to acknowledge our own personal connections to the extremes they signify. If we cut ourselves off from our elemental connection to the sacred, as Dysart has done, we shrivel. Yet if we, like Alan, deny the need for reason then our worship will devolve into nothing more than savagery. The vital question Equus asks us is whether or not we each can find a successful balance between the two.
Shaffer’s piece is an effusion of both the senses and the intellect, and a mingling of instinct with experience. It is eminently relevant today both because its structure draws us in and makes us a part of the theatrical ceremony and because its themes let us connect deeply with the emotional progressions of the characters. And if we are truly brave, we can admit that we all want to celebrate our connection to Alan and, like Dysart, we envy him the purity of his passions more than a little.
Special Performances
insights
May 3, 11 a.m.
playtalks
April 10, 8 p.m. and April 20, 2 p.m.
audio described
April 6, 2 p.m. and April 30, 8 p.m.