Desperation seeps out of Peter Shaffer’s 1973 tale of sex, gods and horses. Lindsay Posner revives Equus with precision, as absolute power shifts, homoerotic desire grows and the muscular allure of a stallion becomes irresistible.
Noah Valentine is taut and stringy as Alan Strang, the disturbed 17-year-old who, while working weekends at a stable, blinds six horses. Having refused to explain in court why he did it, Alan winds up in therapy with Toby Stephens’ rumpled psychiatrist Martin Dysart. Alan gets hooked on the attention as their sessions progress, savouring the rush of retelling his story, while Martin begins to lose his power over the boy and his own sense of self.
