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magidSaturday night I went to the Loeb Ex production of Equus (Peter Shaffer), which is one of my more favorite plays. It's about a shrink treating a boy whose done a shocking crime, figuring out the why behind it. But even as he does so, figuring out more of this boy's reality, he wonders about ripping away something that, though warped in some ways, is real and alive, full of passion that the shrink is lacking in his own life. What price mental health? Or is that just a categorization for those made bland and boring?
It's an intense play, and this production did an excellent job with it. The main stage area was a square plinth, with partial railings on three sides, on it a couple of small tables and a box that were a variety of rooms and furniture. Behind there was a row of stalls, each with a swing door, where five of the side characters sat until they were needed on the main stage. Each stall also had an open horse mask hanging above, which let each person play both person and horse.
I hadn't seen a performance of this in years, and it's stood the test of time well. This time, however, I realized that the play is about individual psychology, and finding the internal logic of someone else's world. Which is all well and good, but the play trivializes the hard work that will come after, the shift to a new world view. I think of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, for instance, and more than half the book is the struggle after the shrink understands what is going on for the protagonist to reinvent herself. Not easy, and not as easily dramatized, so I suppose it's reasonable for the play merely to mention that. It stays a favorite play, even so.
It's playing this coming weekend as well, and tickets are free for the asking at the ART box office (4 ticket maximum).
It's an intense play, and this production did an excellent job with it. The main stage area was a square plinth, with partial railings on three sides, on it a couple of small tables and a box that were a variety of rooms and furniture. Behind there was a row of stalls, each with a swing door, where five of the side characters sat until they were needed on the main stage. Each stall also had an open horse mask hanging above, which let each person play both person and horse.
I hadn't seen a performance of this in years, and it's stood the test of time well. This time, however, I realized that the play is about individual psychology, and finding the internal logic of someone else's world. Which is all well and good, but the play trivializes the hard work that will come after, the shift to a new world view. I think of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, for instance, and more than half the book is the struggle after the shrink understands what is going on for the protagonist to reinvent herself. Not easy, and not as easily dramatized, so I suppose it's reasonable for the play merely to mention that. It stays a favorite play, even so.
It's playing this coming weekend as well, and tickets are free for the asking at the ART box office (4 ticket maximum).