Equus at Stratford East and tour

Haha that's so true! I couldn't stop thinking that he should be thrown out of the profession.

Why would he? As you will find if you read the thread the nudity is there and actually more exposing than in the Radcliffe version

I never met Peter Shaffer, but I bet he'd bother seeing a production - or at least read the thread about it properly - before criticising it for not doing something that it is in fact doing.

I agree about the portrayal of the horses. Doing it in the way they do in this production (particularly Nugget) makes the disturbing eroticism of the end of the first act all the more disturbing. And erotic.

While I wouldn't suggest reading say, the entire Wicked discussion thread before posting (I mean for one's own sanity perhaps also) in a thread 3 pages long, yeah I'd say give it a scroll. Especially when the answer was about 3 posts previous. Just polite isn't it? rather than repeating the same questions.

Yes in the Radcliffe version and in the first production of it I saw, (my parents took me to see it at our local theatre when I was 11 or 12  ), and in the film version. Agree with you it worked fine staged this way - Alan and Dysart are the only characters actually "there" in the scene.

This is a fine play - I cant believe it is 46 years old!

It is given a fine theatrical production here too. I loved the sound and lighting design and the minimal white curtained box setting. The staging of the horse riding at the end of act one with the physical use of the company, the billowing curtains, lighting, sound and smoke was stunning.

The performances I thought were a mixed bag. Working on a bare stage, while focusing attention on the characters is very exposing for actors without the anchors of chairs or tables.

Some actors seemed completely immersed in their roles and others less so.

Ethan Kai gives a very convincing wild, edgy and unpredictable performance as Alan Strang. A completely convincing portrayal of the stable owner by Keith Gilmore. A likeable and believable Jill (the girlfriend) by Norah Lopez Holden. The whole production nearly stolen, though, by Ira Mandela Siobhan as Nugget - the lead horse. A tremendous physical portrayal with huge stage presence both as the horse and a young arrogant horseman.

I was less satisfied with Zubin Varla as Dysart (yes I know he has just been nominated for an Olivier Award for Fun Home). I thought his portrayal was a little superficial - I didn't feel his pain. Less convincing too were Syreeta Kumar and Robert Fitch as Alans parents - although the roles are little cartoonish, but I think you have to find the truth in the characters.

I liked the portrayal of the horses (only missing the metal hoofs and heads initially) although with a small company of only 8 I missed the stable scenes when Alan is surrounded my horses staring at him. These images so central to the horses watching and the subsequent blinding. But the big pay off with how this production was staged was the sexual attraction and eroticism between Nugget and Alan throughout.

A brief word about the nudity. In previous productions Jill is naked with Alan too. It worked perfectly well here though as she isn't really "there".

Edited to add. A huge shout out to the staff at Stratford East Theatre from the box office to the ushers who were fabulous - friendly, helpful and welcoming. 

4 stars for the show and 5 stars for the theatre staff!

Confession; I once read the whole Wicked thread. I still don’t get the joke about 4th cover midwife.

Correction to my previous post - before I am pulled up by someone! The original Equus was an NT production but performed in The Old Vic (before the NT building was opened).

Enjoyed this last night from the centre of Row B (Row A is still there but not on sale). It is a high stage and you are a fair distance away, but you don't miss much.

It seemed reasonably full last night, although I did notice the man outside giving out tickets to a select group (I booked a paid ticket a few weeks ago for an insanely reasonable £10).

Nice theatre, my first time there. Also my first time ever seeing Equus. This is an excellent production, presented on a bare stage to the extent you can really focus on the character drama.

The row behind was taken by a school group and their teacher (who I presume was a drama teacher, as she thought that a 2 hour 40 minute show starting at 7:30pm would end at 10:40pm). She did rather spoiler the second half by going around all the children in the interval to warn them about nudity. I presume this is on a syllabus somewhere.

The nudity, incidentally, is tastefully done. The stage is dark, most of the scene is performed towards the back and Ethan Kai is not really trying to appeal to the size queens, so you only really get subtle glimpses. I notice he wore a very visible flesh coloured sleeve as well, in part to conceal his battery pack, but perhaps to hide a tattoo?

This is coming to the end of its run in Stratford, but touring until May. Definitely worth attending.

I had a ticket for this a month ago, but the day I was going to see this, I became ‘indisposed’ and after a major operation, this ironically is the first show I saw on my return, which is terrific despite a unsettling story line, high production values, where all the creatives seems to have clicked, be a shame if this doesn’t go into the West End, I though exactly the same for Sheffield Theatres’ production on Frost/Nixon and said as much on here, that didn’t happen and hope this doesn’t suffer the same fate.

4 Stars