Written by Peter Shaffer
Starring Tracy Holsinger, Shanaka Amarasinghe, Subha Wijesiriwardena, Hiran Abeysekara, Ranmali Mirchandani, Shannon Raymond & Janice De Zoysa
More information on this play can be found at the Homepage and Wikipedia.
Well, I’ll jump right to it, I’ve always considered Equus to be rather dull and tiresome. And a kid who has erotic fantasies about horses? Are we running out of mental illness and psychopaths that we would find that disturbing? What I’d really like to see is “Hannibal: The Musical!”.
Now there’s a piece of theater you could really sink your teeth into. 
I’m not going to bother with a synopsis. If you really must know then read this one.
So, I was a little more pessimistic than usual about seeing this play. I assumed it would be boring. I knew it would be long and I knew I would be spending a lot of time sitting in a very uncomfortable seat. And the more hype I have to sit through before a play, the more critical I tend to become. And yes, just as I expected… on the surface Equus is a boring piece of theater. It’s just one guy talking incessantly for almost three hours about a kid with a horse fetish. Sure, there are other people on there, but they seldom can be considered anything more than a little garnish to the old man’s rant. It just goes on, and on, and on, and on and onandonandonandon…..
And I liked it. I thought it was great. This could have been a very excruciating ordeal, but the production pulled it off admirably. Rohan Ponniah’s interpretation of Dysart was natural and un-strained. And all the other components just fit right into Dysart’s narration with clockwork efficiency. It was like watching a very finely tuned machine chugging along. I half expected to see a German Midget with a baton scampering around onstage conducting the whole affair. It felt well rehearsed, but at the same time retained its soul. It was a very beautiful thing to watch.
I can’t really find anything wrong with this play. Oh, Hiran Abeyesekera was a little incomprehensible and shrill at times, Tracy Holsinger sounded a little American, and the horses moved as if they were drugged… but none of that really matters because the production as a whole just works and dwelling on the trivialities is just pointless. It’s like not buying a car because the indicator stalk is an inch too long.
You know what? I don’t really feel like reviewing this play more than I already have, which is not much anyway. It’s well put together, the acting is good to great, the whole thing flows nicely, is seldom boring and makes excellent use of everyone and everything it had at its disposal. And the lighting was fine and the stage dressing was very minimal and was used extremely well. Going on any further would just be silly when all I should be saying is “If you want to see how theater should be done, go and see this play”.
I should point out at this stage that there were no professional actors, no rotating casts, no amplification and I’m sure everyone involved was there because of their love of theater. In fact none of the excuses that people have put forward as to why we should just accept the poor state of Western theater in this country seems to hold true with this production. So, the next time someone whines about love of theater, or charity, or “this is not Broadway“… I’m just going to point at this production and say:
“Shut your incontinent monkey trap! This production did what you’ve said that we couldn’t do in this country and it did it with skill and grace using no more than was available to anyone else. Your whining has no substance anymore. If no other production is as good, it’s because they were too lazy, incompetant or just plain sucked and didn’t care and as theater patrons we should let them know that we do care!“
Now, can someone tell me where they hid the German midget?
Java Jones | 22-Oct-07 at 9:00 am | Permalink
Right on bro!
Mud | 22-Oct-07 at 10:51 am | Permalink
The only thing I had a problem with was the seating. For anyone who hasn’t been yet, DON’T sit in the last row downstairs.
themissingsandwich | 22-Oct-07 at 2:25 pm | Permalink
I was wondering if there’d ever be a play you’d really take a liking to. But fully agree with you. Equus was truly brilliant.
shehal | 22-Oct-07 at 8:40 pm | Permalink
i went on the opening night ‘cos i thought i wont have another day to go… but i’m thinking of going again… well anyways… i was well entertained despite the fact that i was hypoglycemic!
accents - i didnt notice… but then again i dont discriminate (unless its indian or australian :p) i thought the horses were okay… but then again i’ve not seen drugged horses move… hmmm… i thought the red lights were cool… like when the boy blinds them they go off… pretty cool…
about the seats - i agree… not too comfortable esp if you’re heavy… i was scared to lean back too much - didnt want to break anything… but the place was thermally comfortable… they should have had a canteen… selling some short eats… coke is not food… i mean its a deep play and you have to concentrate a lot… so you get hungry and all that…
owl | 22-Oct-07 at 11:07 pm | Permalink
hmm, i quite liked the play, even gave a standing ovation. But as a critic I would like you to look in to something.
I came home and did some research on Daniel Radliffe’s version and it was the same. same directions same stage set ,same concept even the same BLOODY CURTAIN CALL.
furthermore i looked in to blood brothers after I watched it,same scenario and same with oliver.
Whats a point of doing a repeat of somthnign that has been done else where the same way? yes ppl will say steve de la zilwa is a brilliant director, yes ppl will say jerome de silva is a brilliant director, but this is the truth , their productions never have original ideas.
Search on youtube and see for yourself.
Oh great critic, Ive always enjoyed reading your reviews on productions but you should write more about these productions cheaply copied from foreign plays.
The Colombo Critic | 23-Oct-07 at 11:11 am | Permalink
Sandwich, didn’t really like the play. Only the performance.
Shehal, have to agree with you about the chairs… though you have to admit that you did have a bit more legroom than other venues. I also thought the warning about the strobe light was a considerate touch. And I was forewarned about the lack of food so ate beforehand.
Owl, my views on this are fairly straightforward:
So, any other thoughts?
PS: Please don’t call me the “great critic”. I’m not really, and I ignore such remarks, but my more “adoring fans” are quite happy to give me grief over it.
Electra | 23-Oct-07 at 11:23 am | Permalink
Owl: There are different kinds of playwrights. Some are very specific in their directions and instructions, and some leave it all to the imagination of the director. Shaffer is very, very specific. He gives instructions on the set, the horses (their costume, movements etc), stage directions, and even puts expressions preceeding a line, telling you exactly how to read it, for example “kindly”, “ironically”. If a director chooses to follow Shaffer’s script faithfully, as Steve de la Zilwa did and as did the Daniel Radcliffe production,then you are bound to be faced with almost the same production save the performances themselves. The director in this case interprets the script and it’s directions for his/her actors, sticks close to Shaffer’s instructions and guides the actors through characterization.
Shaffer obviously had a very clear visual of how Equus was going to look once staged, and I’m sure his vision was also suitably altered by it’s first director and first designer, John Napier.
shehal | 23-Oct-07 at 6:54 pm | Permalink
“Whats a point of doing a repeat of somthnign that has been done else where the same way? yes ppl will say steve de la zilwa is a brilliant director, yes ppl will say jerome de silva is a brilliant director, but this is the truth , their productions never have original ideas.”
well whats the point of watching a repeated sunset
its the same glooming sun that you see set
but each sunset is unique in its own way
the one you get in colombo is bit different to what you get in unawatuna
thanks to them we get to see a sunset although it might not be the same broadway sunset or whatever…
well at least thats how i see it…
Dirk | 25-Oct-07 at 8:45 pm | Permalink
Hey Critic
I think as a production Equus is comparable to The Devil and Billy Markham and Chatroom. But the acting in the two productions far exceeded that of Equus. Rohan may have had his glory days at STC and all that. But I felt he relies too much on his voice to act and it went on and on and on….
I watched it on the second day and his performance was so self indulging it was painful. Very rarely did he connect with the other actors. If it was a radio production I would have enjoyed it more (Rohan’s performance that is .)
I thought Suba was very good as was the nurse. They still (perhaps because they are relatively new) retain some honesty in their performances.
Tracy, Tracy, Tracy …. I ve seen her do it before, even in checkpoint. Shallow and insincere almost caricatured portrayals; Entertaining but not good acting. I know lots of people will disagree just because it is entertaining to watch her on stage.
The boy was good mainly because he had good stage presence and looked the part. But his voice was sometimes painful.( Particularly in the orgasmic horse riding scene) Bad projection technique that hopefully he will grow out of.
The direction was good as was the choreography. The horses were a bit sad… perhaps next time thy might get actual actors to play the horses.
also agree with what Shehal is trying to say… Original theatre is Sri Lanka’s English theatre circuit is few and far between but im thank full there is some theatre.
Richard | 26-Oct-07 at 12:13 am | Permalink
Owl said:
‘I came home and did some research on Daniel Radliffe’s version and it was the same. same directions same stage set,same concept even the same BLOODY CURTAIN CALL.’
Yes, darling. And if you had done just a tiny bit more research, and read Shaffer’s script, you would have discovered that it was the same because this is one play where the playwright lays down the set design in great detail. There’s not much wiggle room. What there was, was exploited to the limit.
Dirk said:
Oh forget it. Never mind what Dirk said. You have to love the Internet; its a totally democratic medium; anyone can make an idiot of themselves on it.
dirk | 26-Oct-07 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
‘…..anyone can make an idiot of themselves on it’…
‘where the playwright lays down the set design in great detail. There’s not much wiggle room’???!!! That does not mean that the director does not interpret the play. It’s not about coping a production or sticking to the directors ‘guidelines’ Richard, a director has all the authority to even adapt the play (provided he does not use the same name.) It is about giving life to something that is on paper!
Anonymous | 28-Oct-07 at 12:40 pm | Permalink
And Steve didn’t?
SweetIdiot | 28-Oct-07 at 4:06 pm | Permalink
So, I reserved two tickets for today’s show [Sunday - 28th] and when a friend went over to pick it up, he discovers that there are no tickets under my name. Turns out, the girls at wrap factory handling the tickets messed up in a BIG way. Now, I have no tickets and have to compromise thanks to the utter inefficiency of the ticket-handling crew. I’m not thrilled with the situation at all, and obviously, its a full house tonight, and no-one is willing to accept any responsibility.
shehal | 31-Oct-07 at 12:46 am | Permalink
and no-one is willing to accept any responsibility -> including your friend?
just asking… have you explored the possibility (or probability in mathematical terms) of your friend screwing up the whole booking process?
Colombo theatre keeps getting better « Cerno | 01-Nov-07 at 7:03 pm | Permalink
[...] a lousy reviewer but thankfully Ravana and the Colombo Critic has some good write ups. No doubt there will always be those in the wings who will whine. Yet for [...]
SweetIdiot | 01-Nov-07 at 10:46 pm | Permalink
shehal - my friend didn’t book the tickets, i used the widely publicized ‘reservations’ number to reserve my tickets…and word is, that one of the girls handling the reservations made a complete mess out of it…sigh!