Ned Bennett’s minimalist and thoughtful production of Equus is by turns thrilling and dull, sensationally staging the sexual and violent aspects of the story while confining the psychiatrist’s self-doubting soliloquy within drapes of blank white sheeting.
‘Chillingly atmospheric’: EQUUS – West End ★★★★
Ned Bennett’s thrillingly engaging production of Peter Shaffer’s play grabs the audience’s attention and imagination brilliantly.
‘Ned Bennett’s direction is another star of the show’: EQUUS – West End
Ned Bennett’s direction is another star of the show; the relationship between Ira Mandela Siobhan as Nugget, a Chestnut horse who has a close relationship with Strang, is stunning.
Post-show Q&A: How many different ways can one audience interpret Equus?
How many different ways can one play be interpreted? The company of Equus were very keen not to impose their opinions but the audience at last night’s post-show Q&A at Trafalgar Studios had plenty of their own. Which were right? All of them! And what a knowledgeable audience it was. Many had seen this or other previous […]
‘A potent reminder of how easily & arbitrarily mental illness can strike’: EQUUS – West End
Touching on themes of religion, sexuality and more than one form of mental illness, the play asks some difficult questions and frequently makes for unsettling viewing, and yet Ned Bennett’s production remains utterly compelling from start to dramatic finish.
‘Shelley Maxwell delivers genius in her suggestions of the horses’ movement’: EQUUS – West End ★★★
Equus remains a fascinating, if dated, piece of writing from Peter Schaffer, exploring the psycho-sexual complexities of the adolescent Alan Strang, a boy who has just, horrifically, blinded six horses.
‘An entirely compelling evening’: EQUUS – Trafalgar Studios
Ned Bennett has created an entirely compelling evening, which reveals new layers to Peter Shaffer’s play Equus that we can now only see because we have changed as a society since it was first performed – a sure sign of a classic.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Equus at Trafalgar Studios
Ned Bennett’s production of Equus for the English Touring Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford East has transferred to the Trafalgar Studios – but what do critics think of it?
‘Expertly draws out the growing anticipation’: EQUUS – Trafalgar Studios ★★★★
Equus is an intriguing play, part psychological thriller, part mirror to the human condition and this is an almost thoroughbred production.
New post-show Q&A: Join Terri for the West End transfer of Peter Shaffer’s Equus
As part of her ongoing post-show Q&A series, on Tuesday 23 July 2019, Mates co-founder Terri Paddock is at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios for the acclaimed new production of Peter Shaffer classic Equus, transferred from the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Got any questions?
NEWS: Ned Bennett’s revival of Equus opens at Trafalgar Studios in July 2019 for a limited season
Award-winning director Ned Bennett’s bold revival of Peter Shaffer’s iconic psychological thriller Equus is transferring to the West End this summer. Following its successful run, the English Touring Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford East production will open at London’s Trafalgar Studios on 6 July 2019 for a strictly limited season until 7 September.
‘It produces a thrilling effect’: EQUUS – Touring ★★★★
Arousing and disturbing in equal measures, English Touring Theatre’s production of Equus stirs the senses as much as engages the brain.
‘Builds beautifully into a compelling narrative’: EQUUS – Theatre Royal Stratford East
This is a brilliant revival of the 1970s classic Equus, about pagan worship and repressed sexuality, which buzzes with an imaginative physicality.
‘There is little to fault in this production’: EQUUS – Theatre Royal Stratford East
This is a marvellous production of Equus at Theatre Royal Stratford East, a play that could easily come across dated. Ned Bennett once again excels at peeling back the layers of deeply troubled characters.
GOATS – Royal Court Theatre
Can I recommend Goats, even with live goats appearing onstage with the cast? Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin. There’s definitely something interesting at the nub of Liwaa Yazji’s play, based on so many real events from her native Syria, but it has yet to achieve dramatically effective form.
‘The animals are the real stars’: GOATS – Royal Court Theatre
Go goats! New play about truth and lies in the Syrian conflict is upstaged by its animal performers.