Review: EQUUS Reimagined at Encore Theatre

EQUUS has become a standard piece often performed by adventurous college programs and companies that specialize in flashy abstract theatre. Usually the art direction takes over the script, and more thought is put in the presentation of the horses than the words that make up Peter Shaffer's stunning psychodrama. I wondered going in why the Encore Theatre wanted to produce this 1973 play set around Southern England horse stables. They are a community theatre, and director Harold Haynes explained his motives at a curtain speech. He believes this play addresses youth doing unspeakable violence in the world, and how we should handle that more directly. Suddenly EQUUS made sense of why this play at this time.

EQUUS tells the story of a psychiatrist treating a young man who has blinded six horses at a stable where he worked. It's a horrific image, and the boy speaks at first only in commercial jingles and thousand yard stares. The play unravels the mystery of what happened and why through discussions with magistrates, family members, and during intense sessions where the boy recounts what led him over the edge. It unravels a tangle of misplaced religious fervor, guilt over sexual awakening, and tensions in his family relationships. The boy's act makes the treating psychiatrist question his own motives and life in stunning ways.

The coolest thing that the Encore Theatre does with EQUUS is they strip it of any pretense and specificity of place. The company members adapt the piece to themselves, and they wisely dismiss any attempt to sound English. Rather than wrestling with accents, they stir up issues. They speak plainly, and I suddenly realized the play wasn't as English as I originally thought. They cleared up relationships, motivations, and the narrative simply by speaking in their own voices from the heart. The performances have a sincerity that makes you appreciate EQUUS and divorces it from the more sensationalistic aspects.

David McCain plays psychiatrist Martin Dysart with a country twang and a calm demeanor paired with some unexpected cowboy boots. He resists sending the role over the top, and allows the drama to drive its own demons. His Dysart is calm, often clinical, and well suited to the role of attending physician. JaKori Jackson gives the boy Alan Strang everything he has. He possesses a sweet face that makes it hard to believe he is capable of cruelty, and yet doesn't hesitate to fall into heated rapture when the script calls for him to rise to ritual sacrifice. JaKori is a strong and fearless actor who never shies away from the difficult passages. Cynnita Agent plays the romantic interest, and she does so with a charming wisdom that comes across as emotional intelligence onstage. She does double duty as a nurse in act one, and she disappears so much into that role most audience members will not see the double casting. The rest of the cast play everything earnestly with true conviction. This is a strong company, and EQUUS is a testament to their adaptability. I enjoyed seeing Briana Headspeth and Teri Mills interpret their roles differently than I ever had seen before as mother and magistrate. They take away the cool British qualities often seen and deliver them to an American sensibility of maternal warmth.

The Encore Theatre is currently located on Main Street in a small house that holds less than eighty audience members at any performance. It's neat and rightfully unnerving to see this show staged so intimately. Director Harold Haynes uses the space wisely, and never overdoes the theatrics given the constraints he is working with. Rather than what most productions do and have the cast members onstage all the time, he keeps them in the front row so they can quickly come in and out of the short scenes. It works well. He also does nice things with video and music that create the dreamscape of the horses and Alan in the fields. He finds simple solutions where other companies would complicate. He and the cast do not shy away from the nudity, and they handle that passage with grace and courage. They never fall victim to creating abstraction for the sake of impact or shock.

This is a community theatre that pulls off a spectacular English show by keeping things simple. They give EQUUS soul by playing it in their own voices, and they mine the depths of the emotions often missed in the wordy script and dream sequences. They resist overplaying the drama, and yet allow it to rise when called for. In short, they pull it off and manage to say something about youth in the process. It's an interesting production of a well known piece that works in this new setting with an atypical cast at the helm. They reveal the universal qualities of art, that it is instinctively blind to race or gender. EQUUS is well worth seeing again through new eyes.

EQUUS runs through May 1st at 4715 Main Street. Tickets can be purchased at http://encoretheatrelive.com/ . Performances are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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