A Review by Elyse Trevers
There is something tantalizing about Broadway, so each year established movie stars are tempted to make their theater debuts. The celebrities do sell tickets and bring in audiences (Julia Roberts, Madonna, Julianne Moore- this year Katie Holmes) but often their performances are less than stellar. This year Daniel Radcliffe of “Harry Potter” fame makes his Broadway debut in a revival of Peter Schaffer’s provocative “Equus.”
However, young Radcliffe has chosen wisely and honed his craft. The play ran in London’s West End, receiving rave reviews before crossing the Atlantic. Not only is the part of Alan Strang a clear departure from his Harry Potter role, but he also plays opposite one of his movie colleagues. In the movies, Richard Griffiths plays Uncle Dursley, Harry’s disagreeable Muggles relative. An award-winning actor who thrilled audiences most recently in his role as the Tony-award-winning professor in “The History Boys,” Griffiths portrays Dr. Martin Dysart, the psychiatrist.
The disturbing play is based upon a story that Shaffer heard years ago about a boy who blinded several horses in their stable. In his script Alan Strang (Radcliffe) has developed an obsessive religious-like love for the horses, and one of them becomes a Christ-figure for him. The event is horrible and Alan’s behavior is bizarre. His passion and zealousness is juxtaposed with the inertia of his therapist, Dr. Dysart. It is Dysart’s job to make Strang “normal” so he can function in the world. Yet Dysart is going through his own conflicts and almost envies Strang’s passion. One must wonder if there’s any significance in the names Shaffer chose for his characters Dysart begins with the prefix Dys meaning faulty and Strang is too close to strange.
The stage is set up like a hospital operating room with a viewing area, around which about 52 audience members sit and observe. (These are discounted seats because sometimes the actors’ back are towards them) The actors move around four large rectangles to serve as chairs, beds or tables. Unfortunately at one crucial time, Griffiths sat on his “chair” listening while Alan recalled what happened and he blocked the other two actors from our view.
The director Thea Sharrock brought back John Napier who designed the horses’ heads for the original show 30 year ago. The heads are aluminum tubes over leather helmets. The six well-toned male dancers also wear heavy metal high-heeled platform “shoes” several inches high so they tower over the other performers. The dancers move about gracefully dangerously and equinelike; they twitch, kick and lurch. When Alan “blinds” them, the scene is troubling and painful . With the sound effects and the stylized movements, the audiences can see the horror as it occurs and the agony that the horses are in.
The story is troubling but the performances are excellent. The play was presented originally 35 years ago but there’s no sense that the play is dated. (Except now perhaps animal activists would have been calling for harsher punishment for Alan.) It is the interactions of Hesther Saloman (Kate Mulgrew) who brings Strang to the doctor. She also works as Dysart’s sounding board. Mulgrew as always is larger than life with her enunciations of words and her boundless energy.
Griffiths, a large man, makes acting look incredibly easy. He is avuncular and wise and yet manages to convey his conflicted state. You realize how wonderful Griffiths is when you compare him to other characters he plays. Radcliffe and Griffiths move well together, like partners on a doubles tennis team. Griffiths is so comfortable on stage, but Radcliffe’s character is an awkward angry teen, a tormented lonely boy who has superimposed a deity on a horse. His voice is raspy-his singing of TV ads a bit atonal, and Radcliffe makes him entirely credible.
Acting is risky. Baring your soul for all to critique takes nerve. Baring your body is an even greater risk. Ironically, although Radcliffe is naked in the second (as is his co-star Anna Camp) his nudity is a natural part of the story. Most of the time the stage is shrouded by the ever-present fog and smog machine, so their nakedness is barely noticeable. Sadly, the nudity might preclude legions of Radcliffe’s teenage fans from attending. Over the last years, Harry Potter has grown up on the screen. Daniel Radcliffe’s performance in Equus shows that he’s grown up as a actor.
