Equus |
Equus recently hit the headlines when Daniel Radcliffe, teenage star of the Harry Potter series, bared all to show us he was no longer the 11-year-old boy we first saw in The Philosophers Stone. So what can we expect from all the hype?
Six metal frames hang on six wooden doors; six men, muscled yet graceful, appear, walking slowly towards their place on stage. Gently, they lift the frames onto their heads. Suddenly, they are the horses.
|
 |
For the current tour, rising star Alfie Allen (younger brother of Lily and son of the legendary Keith Allen) steps into Radcliffe’s shoes, starring as the troubled Alan Strang. Allen is perfect as Strang, a 17-year-old boy in trouble with the police for blinding six horses, and sent to see psychiatrist Martin Dysart, played my master of the stage Simon Callow, to avoid a stretch in prison.
Allen and Callow have a tangible link, playing off each other to show the depths of their characters. As the story develops, so does the complexity of Strang’s problem – his love of horses, in contrast to his horrific act of violence, leads us to wonder what went wrong.
By the interval, the audience is more silent than I thought possible, as Allen’s acting skills (along with his bare chest) are shown off to the limit, leaving us on the edge of our seats.
It is at the interval that it all goes wrong – a hideous clunk sounds, and ten minutes later, Simon Callow is standing in front of us, explaining that the ‘safety’ curtain has broken – the show cannot go on!
So that was that. The first half of Equus is an amazing exhibition of fantastic direction, talented old favourites and rising new ones, leaving us with so many unanswered questions – why did he do it? Will he ever change?
Equus lives up to its reputation as a complex and gripping tale of growing up, love and lust – or at least, the first half does.
A magnificent 10 out of ten.
By Eildhi Brown
Top |
|
.........................
Winter haiku
Blue moon shines its light
Fields turn to frozen lakes
Nature’s ace card played.
............
Beach
A monopoly dog tumbles through the surf, chasing near-forgotten memories of a distant past; its owner, lost in thought, meanders behind, face turned towards the bleaching sun. The wreck and ruins of somebody’s livelihood perches, gull-like, upon the rocks, watching, waiting, wondering.
I turn towards the lapping waves, my footprints flooding as soon as I abandon them. Above me, a lone, dull cloud threatens the crystal sky, turning the colour of the beach to a murky grey, a paint-by-numbers corrected too many times.
The fresh, salty air invades me, taking me over, until I am nothing but the tang of the waves, the stench of the seaweed, the smooth, soft sand beneath my feet. I jog, moved not by a person or a thing, but by an inexplicable need to be closer to the razor-blade rocks that interrupt the stillness of the beach. They are me, interrupting the flow of normality, feared and misunderstood.
Suddenly, the water is attacking my waist, a chilling hand invading me. The gasp comes from another me, a primitive part. I try to fight it, but my senses are overwhelmed, the smells, the tastes, the lights defeat me. I stop, and let my senses win.
...............
Wanted: Hope Snuggler
Qualifications needed: Nothing but a bubbly personality
Description: When hope fails, our Snugglers must be there to help! You will be on call, according to your shift pattern, for 12 hours at a time.
You will, if successful, start off as a No-hope Snuggler, and have the opportunity to progress through the ranks to a When All Hope Fails Snuggler.
You must be: An optimistic person, and not one to let reality get in the way of anything.
Hours: Vary, according to shift patterns
Pay: £15 000 p.a. starting salary, increases with promotion
Qualifications attainable: Levels 1,2 & 3 in Hope Snuggling
Personal Testimony
(Writer wishes to remain anonymous)
Hope snuggling. Sounds so…sweet, doesn’t it. Let me tell you, that’s what I thought when I first applied for the post. Now I’m the best of the best, the crème de la crème…and I bloody hate it!
All day, I listen to the world’s ills and corruptions…my country’s at war, there’s no food left for us…BIG DEAL! I’ve got four hungry mouths to feed, and one more on the way-there’s no hope snuggler in the world that could undo that!
And, as if I don’t have enough to worry about, the boss has decided to send me to the company’s Big Hope Snuggler…something about pressures of work, bipolar something…yakkity, yakkity! I don’t think so!
When I read that description I thought, it’s perfect! And the salary increases! But here, 10 years later, I’m still only earning £17,000! The littlest one’s dad’s just walked out, I’ve got bills mounting up, and every day, I have to go out and listen to everybody else’s problems.
Hope? Don’t talk to me about hope! |
To top |