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------Review
Highlights------
Highly Recommended
—Zac Thompson, Chicago Reader (read more...)
A must-see, compared to an early Steppenwolf
—Betty Mohr, Daily Southtown (read more...)
*Recommended: honest, intimate and riveting
—Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago Magazine (read more...)
Critics’ Pick
—Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City Times (read more...)
Seamlessly riveting theatre that stays with you for days
—Sarah Hollenbeck, Streetwise (read more...)
Highly Recommended
—Tom Williams, chicagocritic.com (read more...)
Highly Recommended,
Powerful thriller
—Al Bresloff, The Epoch Times (read more...)
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Recommended*
4 Stars
So Harry Potter’s doing Equus in London. We’ve got something better in
this intimate, honest and riveting staging of Peter Shaffer’s
psychodrama. —Kris Vire
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It’s almost impossible to talk about
Equus without noting the fuss over the just-opened London revival of
Shaffer’s psychodrama, with the tabloids abuzz because it stars a
certain erstwhile Harry Potter in a role requiring full-frontal nudity.
Cynics among us might even suggest the Actors Workshop production is
timed to cash in on that publicity. We can’t tell you whether the
timing is strategic or merely coincidental, but we can tell you that
unless you’re dying for a peek at HP’s wang, we think Chicago got the better end of the
stick: Stead’s revival is honest, intimate and riveting.
The story revolves around teenaged Alan Strang (Oyloe) and his effect
on psychologist Martin Dysart (Parry,
a commanding narrator), who’s charged with unlocking the central
mystery, which is not a whodunit but a whydunit: What made Alan
ritualistically blind six horses he helped care for? Stead finds a
smart way to cut the cast almost in half (necessary for the
shoebox-sized space) that actually increases the impact of Alan’s
climactic breakdown. The cast he’s
assembled is superb. There’s not a word that doesn’t seem true,
nary a movement that’s not meticulously planned. Oyloe in particular is a real find.
In the wrong hands Alan could be a scenery-chewing nightmare; Oyloe’s
is often otherworldly, sometimes petulant, sympathetic and frustrating,
but never over-the-top and never less than mesmerizing. The electricity between Oyloe and Parry is
enough to make you sweat. We’ll gladly take this kind of theatrical
heat over celebrity flashbulb glare.—Kris Vire
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A
must-see
—Betty Mohr
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Stark staging, powerful cast make
'Equus' spellbinder
March 23, 2007
By BETTY MOHR Daily Southtown
Theater Critic
Amid
all the big theatrical productions going on in Chicago, the tiny Actors
Workshop Theatre has mounted a spellbinding
sleeper with "Equus."
There
are only a few chairs on the spare stage in the intimate theater the
size of one's living room. But when the lights go down, watching the dazzling energy of
electrifying performances within such close
proximity recalls the early days of Steppenwolf Theatre in its first
home in a tiny church basement.
"Equus" was a
sensation when it first opened in London in 1973, followed by a Tony
Award-winning Broadway production and then a 1977 movie, starring
Richard Burton. Now, under Joe Stead's masterful direction, this
revival of Peter Shaffer's psychological thriller is a hypnotic
stunner.
While it plays out like a detective
story, it also explores the question of whether being normal in our
society means that one has to lose one's individuality and live a life
without the exhilaration of passion.
The drama
centers on 17-year-old Alan Strang, who has inexplicably blinded six
horses, and psychiatrist Martin Dysart, who tries to discover what
drove the young man to such a shocking deed.
As
Dysart treats Strang, he begins to doubt his own ability and vocation.
He realizes the boy has felt the kind of passion that he will never
know. And he worries that, in resolving the boy's pain, he will also
destroy the boy's spirit.
The staging, in which
horses' heads hang on the back wall of the arena and performers sit on
stage as witnesses to the events of the drama, conveys the atmosphere
of a stark courtroom drama. And the original
musical score by Shannon
Bengford, Peter Oyloe and Miles Polaski provides an almost mystical
mood to the show.
But the
production soars and holds one breathless by the spectacular power of
its actors.
A
new star is born with Peter Oyloe's
spellbinding portrayal of Strang.
The young actor, whom I haven't seen on stage before, blazes with a
spine-tingling intensity that one will long remember.
Brian
Parry is a captivating and thoughtful Dysart, holding everyone in rapt
attention by the power of his highly-skilled vocal delivery.
Other
contributors who delivered wonderful performances include Debra Rodkin
as Strang's religious mother; Mark Shallow as the boy's socialist,
realist father; Daniel Han as Nugget and a horseman; and Jan Ellen
Graves as Hester Salomon, who asks Dysart to take away the boy's pain.
This is
a must-see show. It's got the kind of theatrical lightning that doesn't
strike very often.
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Highly Recommended
—Tom
Williams, chicagocritic.com
**Jeff Recommended**
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Brian Parry’s Dysart
and
Peter Oyloe’s Alan
prove “definitive.”
Equus,
at The Actors Workshop Theatre, is a glowing example of “storefront
theatre” at its zenith. This fabulous production was well thought out
and marvelously staged by director Joe Stead. From the intimate,
in-your-face staging to the magnificent mask
designed by Jeff Semmerling to the superb casting choices that
was enhanced and driven into deeper emotional range by the original
music by Shannon
Bengford and Peter Oyloe, Equus
unfolds as one of most chilling and breathtakingly powerful dramas seen
on a Chicago stage in years!
Forget the hype about Daniel Radcliff in London doing Equus—Joe Stead’s
Equus, here in Chicago, is the real deal. Brian Parry’s
understated, polished and exquisitely articulate performance of the self-doubting psychologist, Dr.
Martin Dysart anchors the play. Parry has just the right
combination of savvy, guile and heart to move from the cold-hearted
clinician to the obsessed psychiatrist in awe of his 17 year old
patient, Alan Strang (Peter Oyloe). Parry smoothly moves us through the
psychological minefield that inhibits Alan’s world. This modern
esoteric thriller builds into a mind numbing journey into the struggles
and pains experienced by the teen who mysteriously blinds six horses in
his care in a baffling rage.
This journey of discovery rests on the shoulders of Peter Oyloe whose
emotionally riveting and intensely truthful performance as Alan Strang
was a tour de force on several levels. Oyloe richly conveys Alan’s pain
and dissects the internal trauma with a most convincingly nuanced and
chillingly honest performance. Oyloe proves that he is a major
talent capable of reaching into himself to mine all the emotional pain
Alan emotes. Oyloe’s stares, a key characteristic of Alan’s, sent
chills down my spine. In the act one ending scene, where Alan gives
glimpses into his soul in a most passionate demonstration of his
traumatic confusion of religion, sexuality and psychological torment—Peter Oyloe reaches
an astonishingly truthful and courageous level of intensity that leaves
us shocked to our core. Passion does, indeed, rule here.
Daniel Han, as
Nugget, aptly conveyed the symbolic horse while Debra Rodkin as Alan’s
mother and Mark Shallow as Alan’s father together with Jan Ellen Graves
as Hesther each offered excellent supporting work. Maura Kidwell was
marvelous as the sensual temptress Jill. The chemistry between
Kidwell and Oyloe in the sensual climatic nude scene was tastefully
staged and superbly acted giving a catalyst to Alan’s distrustful act
of violence.
The mystery of why Alan blinded the six horses builds into one
enthralling scene that Peter Oyloe delivers in a most electrifyingly
wrenching manner. Peter Oyloe proves
here that he is the definitive Alan Strang. Brian Parry is the lynchpin
of this work as he has Dysart effectively maneuvering Alan into
reliving his torturous deed. The gods of “passion” and “normal”
battle it out for the soul of both the troubled teen and the
self-hating psychologist. You’ll be glued to your seat in the final
scenes.
This Equus begs to be experienced. The production will shake you to our
core. You’d be hard pressed to find as powerful a show anywhere. Parry
and Oyloe are magnificent as they put their distinct marks on Dysart
and Alan. Talk about actors leaving it all on the stage! Wow! Don’t
miss this show—it is one of the best of 2007. The Actors Workshop
Theatre has reached a new level of stagecraft with Equus.Kudos to Joe
Stead for his passion and vision. You are right about this one,
Joe.
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2007
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Highly
Recommended
Reviewed by Al Bresloff
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What is normalcy? How far can passion
lead you? These are some of the questions in Peter Shaffer's powerful thriller "Equus" now
playing at The Actors Workshop Theatre located in a storefront at 1044
W. Bryn Mawr. When one talks about intimate theater, this is by far
what they mean- a very small space ( roughly 38 seats) and a very small
stage, but a very powerful production where the audience feels as they
are in the mental hospital office of Dr.Martin Dysart ( a marvelous, solid performance by Brian
Parry) who is asked to dig into a troubled young man, Alan
Strang (the remarkable Peter Oyloe,
who's intensity will shock and scare you. This is a young talent that
we should see around town for many years to come) who has
blinded all of the horses in the stable where he works. Alan isn't
quite "normal" who has a mother (Debra Rodkin) who believes in religion
and a father (Mark Shallow) who is against almost everything. While
they appear to be loving parents, they cannot seem to control the
passion that Alan has for horses. This passion is revealed as Dr.
Dysart gets Alan to open up about who he is and what has brought him to
this point. The Dr. himself has his own special problems (a loveless,
childless marriage) and by releasing Alan's demons, perhaps he as well
will find himself. There is also a love for Alan, a co-worker at the
stable (the very lovely Maura Kidwell and a very dramatic love scene
(with full nudity, but handled extremely well by director Joe Stead).
In fact, Mr. Stead has done a solid
job from start to finish in making this story work on a very small
stage and his cast is superb. The other actors, Marco Garcia,
Jan Ellen Graves, Connie Anderko and Daniel Han ( who plays the horse )
all handle their roles well. All of the actors sit on stage in chairs
awaiting their scenes and yet, with the careful eye of a skilled
director, we, the audience are so drawn to the events on stage, we do
not notice them at all. This is a very dramatic and intense production
that will have you thinking as you leave the theater. The tech part of
the show is simply the lights (John Kohn III) The sound (Miles Polaski)
and some wonderful music (Shannon Bengford and Peter Oyloe) and the
masks by Jeff Semmerling. This is a small theater, so if you are going
to get to see this one, call for reservations.
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Highly
Recommended
Reviewed by Zac Thompson |
EQUUS
Peter Shaffer's 1973 psychological drama examines Alan Strang, a
tortured teenager whose erotic, quasi-religious fascination with horses
ends in violence. Currently enjoying a successful West End revival
starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe (whose nude scenes have caused
a lucrative stir), the play is long and overblown but can exert an
eerie power in the right production. In
Joe Stead's simple, reverent staging for the Actors Workshop Theatre,
performed in a tiny space, the cast works wonders. Mellifluous Brian
Parry is smooth but authoritative as Strang's therapist. And smoldering newcomer Peter Oyloe gives
the boy a solemn, sullenly seductive air that perfectly suits Shaffer's
theme, the intermingling of sex and violence with the sacred.
--Zac Thompson
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‘Equus’ is seamlessly riveting
By Sarah Hollenbeck
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Due to construction, a pile of rubble
currently marks the entrance of The Actors Workshop Theatre (AWT).
Nevertheless, last Saturday night, theatergoers braved the caution tape
and packed the house of this cozy, Bryn Mawr storefront. Little did
they know, the patch of broken pavement outside was nothing compared to
the psychological devastation they’d be navigating once safely indoors.
The Actors Workshop Theatre’s current production, “Equus” dissects the
relationship between Martin Dysart (Brian Parry), a psychiatrist
experiencing a bout of “professional menopause” and his 17-year-old
patient, Alan Strang (Peter Oyloe). Strang is committed to Dysart’s
care after he blinds six horses with a metal spike. The gruesome facts
of Alan’s deed are revealed in the first moments of the play, thus the
story’s tension hinges upon the gripping question: why? But “Equus” is
not a psychological drama of “Ordinary People” proportions, nor is it a
TNT Law & Order: SVU marathon. Beyond dredging the depths of the
human mind, “Equus” illuminates much larger questions, singeing one’s
previously held ideas about normalcy, passion, and God.
While “Equus” might leave a million questions unresolved, this
particular production does answer on great mystery--how do you engage
an audience for 1 ½ hours of dialogue? AWT’s strong cast and director Joe Stead’s
innovative staging raise Peter Shaffer’s script to a searing level of
intensity. Building upon the intimacy of this tiny black box
theatre, the entire cast is present onstage throughout the production.
When not involved in a scene, the characters sit and watch the story
unfold. Further erasing the theatrical “fourth wall,” Dr Dysart
frequently leaves the stage and walks among the audience. This use of
space forces actors and audience alike to sit alongside the
“imbalanced: Strang and share a cushion on the psychiatrist’s couch.
A strong ensemble of minor characters flanks Oyloe and Parry. Most noteworthy are Mark Shallow and Debra
Rodkin as Alan’s parents. With both performances, you can
practically see the threads of composure snapping under the weight of
their unspoken, self-inflicted guilt. Yet, “Equus” remains a two-man tour-de-force. Brian Parry, a
veteran of AWT transforms Dr. Dysart from a corroded, middle-aged cynic
to a man starving for the dregs of his young patient’s passion. Peter
Oyloe’s portrait of Alan Strang is beyond brave. In the current
London revival of “Equus,” starring Harry Potter’s Daniel
Radcliffe, critics are quick to praise the effectiveness of Radcliffe’s
eyes. Although Oyloe’s mesmerizing
performance at AWT begins with his haunting stare, it mounts into a
highly physicalized performance so honest that it leaves him both
literally and figuratively naked.
The Actors Workshop Theatre’s “Equus” is seamlessly riveting theatre that stays with
you for days after the final round of applause. Like Dr. Dysart,
we, the audience, are left wondering if our worship of normalcy is just
as blinding as Alan Strang’s metal spike.
Please note, this show does contain nudity and strong language is
recommended for mature audiences only.
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Critics'
Pick
Jonathan Abarbanel
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Critics' Picks Summary: This
intelligent, feeling and crisp reading of the popular Peter Shaffer
tale of a boy and his horse is a tight squeeze in a 44-seat storefront,
but the confrontation between the Dionysian and the rational plays big.
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Nugget the horse ( Daniel Han ) appears in tight black leather pants, a
studded black leather harness, black gloves and stacked-heel black
boots. Woof! No wonder Alan
Strang gets naked and worships him. That tidbit of homoeroticism aside,
let’s get on with discussing this production!
It’s better than good,
given the tight physical constraints of a postage-stamp-sized stage in
a 44-seat storefront theatre, with only one door through which actors
can enter and exit. Director Joe Stead’s solution is to have the actors
seated onstage all the time. Only Han enters and exits, so his
appearances have visual impact. Stead does his best to give his
blocking kinetic energy, but there just isn’t a lot of stretching room.
It’s a serious limitation for a play that benefits from movement and
spectacle as it attempts to convey ecstatic experience in a physical
and visceral way.
Stead and company compensate by working the language and emotions of
Peter Shaffer’s still-popular play, and this they do quite well. Each
beat, and each scene is given full, intelligent measure—never rushed
but never too slow. The company has a
strong lead in resonant-voiced Brian Parry as Martin Dysart, the
doctor asked to unravel the psyche of Alan Strang, the repressed but
ordinary adolescent boy who inexplicably blinds six horses. Parry’s
thoughtful delivery evokes Dysart’s own dysfunctions and longings, as
his alienation parallels that of his young patient. Nonetheless,
Dysart’s caring—at least on an intellectual level—also is conveyed.
There is solid work from all the supporting cast, especially Mark
Shallow and Debra Rodkin as Alan’s somewhat incompatible parents.
Equus is so theatrical and so smartly written that one forgives Shaffer
for his far-too-pat psychology and the ease with which Dysart cracks
the case. In an era of rising religious fundamentalism, the question of
ecstatic spirituality in “normal” life is potent, albeit not in the
Dionysian model of Equus. If young Strang only had seen a stallion and
mare mating, there wouldn’t be a play.
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