EQUUS. A REVELATION OF TRUE THEATRE.
The Nižbor company “Na rohu u nás” are amateur performers. They already had the successful comedy Two Men in Check behind them, a production that delighted local audiences and visitors alike — and the actors too — with laughter roaring through the room. Yes, amateur theatre exactly as we imagine it.
But then came Equus. A drama by the renowned British playwright Peter L. Shaffer. And the audience, ready to clutch their stomachs with laughter, never got the chance. They were taken aback, just as I was. By everything. The seriousness of the subject. The professionalism of the production. Actors who never mugged or fell into tired touring-show mannerisms. The originality and functionality of the set. Rear projections. The stage music! The choreography and movement of the horse-people…
This “amateur” Equus is a celebration of true theatre, albeit a dark one.
There is no point listing individual details. This is theatre that penetrates the heart, the mind and the marrow of our bones; theatre in which we dread every next line, question, image and cry. Theatre that makes us discreetly wipe our eyes, almost embarrassed — because we are simply not used to someone showing us, without mercy, how much pain surrounds us and lives within us, and what we are capable of. How could we be, after hundreds of bland television series, “slightly bittersweet” summer and Christmas film comedies, and exuberant shows sweetened with canned laughter… Thank you, Equus!
The play ends, the applause fades, the actors disappear somewhere backstage for a smoke — and the audience quietly makes its way home. Yet for many, Equus will not let them sleep. And for many, Equus will still be there when they wake in the morning.
Otto Weiss is a madman capable of just about anything. Company director, stage director, dramaturg, set designer, visual artist and company accountant (and… and… and…), but also a superb and precise performer in one of the two leading roles, psychiatrist Martin Dysart.
And who on earth is Jiří Zajíc? Does anyone know him? Yes, the one playing Alan Strang, the young man who committed that unimaginable crime. The transformation of an “amateur” with no acting training or experience into an utterly alive, believable character is a genuine miracle. Proof that we can live more lives than the single one recorded in official documents.
I still haven’t completely recovered from Equus. I wish you the courage to go and see it — and the courage to try to answer the questions it will ask.
Thank you, Equus! Thank you, Weiss!
