'Equus' is tethered to tame production (July 2005)

[RHintervews]

'Equus' is tethered to tame production By Michael Eck [July 20, 2005]

Special to the Times Union
First published: Wednesday, July 20, 2005

STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. -- Seventeen-year-old Alan Strang has blinded six horses, digging at their eyes with a hoof pick.
It's Dr. Martin Dysart's task to determine why; and beyond that to help exorcise the demons that have driven the boy to such desperate action.

Peter Shaffer's play "Equus" created quite a controversy on its premiere in 1973. More than 30 years later, it still retains the power to shock, but not in the production currently on view at Berkshire Theatre Festival.

Director Scott Schwartz has created a show with impressive visuals and a few strong players, but it seems he has forgotten about the raw psychological energies and traumas that drive Shaffer's sсript.

Victor Slezak is solid as Dr. Dysart. He needs to be. He is onstage throughout the entire play.

Slezak portrays Dysart as a man of many layers. Shaffer paints him into a stalled marriage, he puts dreams of ancient Greece in his head and he even makes him envy Strang for the very passions that push him over the edge. Slezak defines each of these traits, despite the fact that he is essentially a very talking head.

It's good work.



The physicality of the play belongs to television actor Randy Harrison who plays Strang.

Harrison is simply not ready for the role.

Throughout much of the first act, he is cardboard. He speaks words without portraying them -- and it's folly to attribute that to the fact that his character has shut down.

In the second act -- in which Strang begins to reveal the reasons behind his actions -- Harrison actually seems afraid of the character. He delivers lines as though he is standing beside himself, and his expressions of desire for the young stable girl, Jill Mason, are wooden and unconvincing.

The fact that so much of "Equus" hinges on Strang's tangle with nature, religion and sexuality -- he is the victim of a messy mix of the Bible, western movies, children's books, English socialism and raging hormones -- is mooted by Harrison's lack of a performance.

The supporting cast includes Tara Franklin as Jill and Roberta Maxwell as magistrate Hesther Salomon; Maxwell, curiously, played Jill in the original Broadway production of the play.

As noted, Schwartz's "Equus" is quite visually striking, benefiting from the combined skills of set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Jess Goldstein, lighting designer Kevin Adams, sound designer Ray Schilke and choreographer Gus Solomons jr. Solomons, who appeared as a spirit in the recent BTF Unicorn production of August Strindberg's "The Father," is responsible for the movements of the half-dozen actors who play the all-important horses.

"Equus" is rarely produced outside of ambitious college venues, so it's worth a look if you've never seen it. But remember, there is much more to Alan Strang than Randy Harrison can muster. Michael Eck is a freelance writer from Albany and a regular contributor to the Times Union.

THEATER REVIEW

'EQUUS'

When/Performance Reviewed: 8 p.m. Tuesday Where: Berkshire Theatre Festival, Main Street, Stockbridge, Mass. Running Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes. One intermission Continues: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Matinees, 2 p.m. Thursday and Saturday Tickets: $36-$63 Info: [phone] begin_of_the_skype_highlighting [phone] end_of_the_skype_highlighting, www.berkshiretheatre.org