Equus (Penguin Plays)
by Peter Shaffer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter ShafferEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1984-10-02
ISBN: 0140260706
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Equus (Penguin Plays)
Book Review: Equus or my journey to Cavalry...
Summary: 5 Stars
Ostensibly the story of a doctor-patient relationship, Equus is just as limited by the therapist's suite as is Casablanca limited by the walls of Rick's Cafe. The genuis of Shaffer is that he manages to create characters so indelible and unforgettable that they leap out of the read page just as much or more as they do out of the performed page. Put another way, even without Burton in the cinema or Hopkins on Broadway, his Dr. Dysart connects with you. You can easily find yourself joining Dysart as he commences his therapy with Alan Strang. The who, what, when and where are quickly covered as we and Dysart learn that Strang's "presenting problem" is the fact he's just blinded six horses. The why consumes the virtual remainder of the play as we join Dysart in peeling down the oniony layers of Strang's psychosis. Ever the honest observer, Dysart readily admits the plain simple fact of human observational error. His problem -- our problem -- is that our ability to interact and help others is inherently limited by our own myopia. We can only see what we can only see. Fortunately, Dysart understands the problematic nature of probing someone else's consciousness. How can we eliminate the bad without taking some of the good with it? What was it Strang thought he saw in the horses? What was it he was afraid they would see of him?
The answers to those questions are really best left to read or see a performance of this play. As Dysart might himself wryly observe: We all ultimately take our own trip to Cavalry.
For the here and the now, however, it bears noting that this play is one of the single greatest repositorities of quotable, rememberable lines in the English language.
And so: "What way is this? What dark is this? I cannot call it ordained of God. I cannot pay it so much homage. But there is chain in my mouth and it never comes out."
So, don't stop with Shaffer's Amadeus, read or see this one too.
Summary of Equus (Penguin Plays)
In "Equus," which took critics and public alike by storm and has gone on to become a modern classic, Peter Shaffer depicts the story of a deranged youth who blinds six horses with a spike. Through a psychiatrist's analysis of the events, Shaffer creates a chilling portrait of how materialism and convenience have killed our capacity for worship and passion and, consequently, our capacity for pain. Rarely has a playwrite created an atmosphere and situation that so harshly pinpoint the spiritual and mental decay of modern man.British & Irish Books
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