‘Equus’, Peter Schaeffer’s play about a psychiatrist treating a teenage boy with a religious and pathological fascination with horses has been an intriguing work since it was first performed over forty years ago.
When the play was first performed in Western Australia, one performance in Geraldton was interrupted by police who arrested the lead actor for public nudity. More recently it’s drawn attention as Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Harry Potter performance. The Hogwarts alumni starred alongside the late Richard Griffiths in a revival on Broadway and in London’s West End.
This month Melville Theatre are staging a production with Oliver Kaiser in the lead role. Kaiser shared with OUTinPerth that he definitely had some hesitation before taking on the role.
“There was definitely hesitation, I didn’t have too much time to look into it before I was at the audition. The director Lars Jesen encouraged me to audition for it and suddenly there I was.” Kaiser said, “A friend of mine did a scene for an audition and I was familiar with that, but when I read the whole play I realised it would be very challenging.”
“What I’m finding challenging… is that in the role of Alan you’re talking to people at different times, it’s non-linear, so you’re constantly switching between different periods.
“We haven’t made a decision on the nudity aspect yet,” Kaiser said. “It only works if everyone feels comfortable and confident.” Kaiser said he’d had to stress to friends that the play is so much more than the show which Daniel Radcliffe appeared naked in. “We shouldn’t classify it like that, it’s so much more.”
Director Lars Jensen agrees that the play is a big undertaking for a community theatre group. “It’s a big mouthful, one of the really good things about ‘Equus’ is it reads really well off the page, it’s really engaging.”
“It hasn’t really dated,” Jensen said, “I guess the reason it hasn’t dated is that it asks some very essential questions that go for all ages. It asks the question ‘What is normal” and is it ok for us to restore to people to normal when they find something which society deems to be not normal.”
‘Equus’ plays at 8pm May 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23 with a 2pm matinee May 17. Book tickets on 9330 4565 or at www.meltheco.org.au.
Graeme Watson
