Review: Equus

Review: Equus

Photo courtesy of Village Scene

Closer

We forever know that we are watching a play and, because of this, the mystery of Alan Strang cannot matter to us.

by Rachel Zuroff

Village Scene Productions is currently presenting Equus at the Rialto Theatre. Equus tells the story of the disillusioned psychiatrist’s, Martin Dysart, quest to understand the reasons that lead the 17 year old Alan Strang to blind six horses. In seeking the answer, Equus deals with the themes of religion, sexuality and what it means to be normal.

Ford's Focus: Paul Van Dyck

(Photo credit: Camille McOuat)

Living Life to the Fullest

There were lots of times I thought about coming home...but I thought ‘where’s the story in that?’

by Barbara Ford

Brockville-born producing, writing, directing and acting sensation Paul Van Dyck has already managed to jam-pack a lifetime into the three and a half decades or so that he’s been around.  Growing up, Van Dyck had many varied interests and dabbled a little with theatre, playing in a couple of high school plays.  His British mom still had family living in London and Van Dyck recalls numerous visits on summer breaks, seeing West End musicals such as the glam roller skating hit, Starlight Express (what was Andie thinking?).  When he was seventeen, he and a girlfriend took a trip to Stratford, camping out and seeing a slew of plays, but he still hadn’t caught the bug just yet.

It wasn’t until Van Dyck journeyed out west after high school, passing through Lake Louise and ending up on Vancouver Island, that he got bitten.  He happened to see Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle by a travelling ensemble called the Caravan Barge Theatre.  Quite the romantic troupe they were too, with Clydesdale horses drawing their wagons through the rural farm districts to perform for meagre audiences.  After the show, Van Dyck caught sight of one of the actors roasting a hotdog over an open fire, reminiscent of a Depression dustbowl hobo, and sat down to chat with the fellow.  Perhaps it was the heady mix of travel and theatre that was so irresistible to Van Dyck, who figured if you don’t mind eating a lot of hotdogs over an open pit, a notion he had no trouble swallowing, the life of a thespian had a certain quixotic allure.  

Advance: Equus

Lamont with horses from Equus (photo: Village Scene)

It Ain't Harry Potter Nekkid

by Richard Burnett (from Hour, with permission)

Most folks know the play Equus because it starred that kid from Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, stripping buck naked onstage in both London’s West End and on Broadway. All in the name of art, of course, for Playwright Peter Shaffer’s famed 1973 play, which tells the psychodrama (inspired by a real-life incident) of psychiatrist Martin Dysart uncovering why 17-year-old Alan Strang – sexually obsessed with horses – deliberately blinds six horses.

Strang is portrayed in the Montreal production by local actor Bobby Lamont, who doesn’t have a problem stripping for the stage. “To be honest, I haven’t spent any time worrying about how my own particular naked body will look in the context of our production of Equus,” says the handsome Lamont. “I don’t think any amount of worry would help to make the performances any more real for our audiences. It is not my body that is the story, after all, either. And it would be vain of me to attribute it much importance by worrying about it. My concern is entirely with making sure I give every ounce of my energy to inhabiting the heart and mind of a beautiful and tragic character.”