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| Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Sam Thomson (Nugget) - Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) in "EQUUS". |
Written by Peter Shaffer – Directed by Anne Somes
Set Design by Cate Clelland – Costume design by Anne Somes
Sound Design by Neville Pike and Patrick Dixon – Live soundscape
by Crystal Mahon
Stage Management: Jill Young – Movement Direction by Amy
Campbell.
ACT Hub 12th – 22nd November 2025.
Opening night performance on 12th November
reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
A Court Magistrate in a small town in England visits a local
child psychiatrist to implore him to interview a 17-year-old boy in an attempt to
discover the boy’s motivation for blinding six horses.
This is the pretext of Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed 1973 play, “Equus”,
which is currently playing in the ACT Hub in a masterful production directed by
Anne Somes for Free Rain Theatre.
Presented on an atmospheric, stripped-back setting, designed
by Cate Clelland, which eschews furniture and hand-held props in favour of dramatic
lighting and sound to create drama and spectacle, Somes relies on the skill of
her actors, and the imagination of her audiences to fill any gaps in the storytelling.
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| Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Crystal Mahon (Hesther Salomon) in "EQUUS". |
Shaffer’s play is wordy, but in this production Arran McKenna shines in the demanding role of the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, who is himself questioning his own sense of purpose and the nature of his work. As Dysart, McKenna delivers Shaffer’s wordy musings on human nature, the drivers of sexuality, and the value of psychiatry, with impressive aplomb.
As the troubled boy, Alan Strang, who resists Dysart’s intervention
by refusing to communicate other than by singing advertising jingles, Jack
Shanahan is riveting, offering a brave performance that requires him to perform
naked for much of the second act.
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| Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) in "EQUUS". |
Playing Dysart’s confidante, the magistrate Hesther Salomon, Crystal Mahon brings a re-assuring warmth and dignity to the role, while Janie Lawson also contributes a strong performance as Alan Strang’s uncomprehending mother, Dora Strang.
Bruce Hardie is effective as both Alan Strang’s father Frank,
and as Strang’s employer Harry Dalton; as are Lily Welling as Jill Mason, the
unwitting catalyst for Alan Strang’s atrocity, and Caitlin Bissett who plays a
nurse.
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| Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) - Janie Lawson (Dora Strang) - Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) |
However, it is Sam Thomson who displays remarkable presence in the non-verbal role of the horse, Nugget, and his stablemates, Jamie Johnson, Finlay Forrest, Samara Glesti, Bianca Lawson and Robert Wearden, who are most likely to remain in the memory. They are on stage for the full duration of the play, either as horses or observers, and it is the spectre of their presence which ultimately drives the play.
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| Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) - Sam Thomson (Nugget) in "EQUUS". |
“Equus” is a play that has fascinated audiences for more than 50 years. Anne Somes inventive and imaginative production at ACT Hub is a strong indicator of why this is so.
Photos by Janelle McMenamin.
