[NEohioPAL]Berko review: EQUUS (Beck Center for the Arts)

[Roy Berko]

‘EQUUS’ at BECK is a brilliant and compelling MUST
see!

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

Every once in a while a theatre-goer has an experience
which almost defies words. 

After the final curtain of Beck Center’s production of
Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award winning drama ‘EQUUS’ I sat
stunned.  I had just seen what I consider to be the
best over-all local production in my viewing
experience.  I don’t say that lightly.  Readers of my
reviews know that I am guarded in making sweeping
generalizations.  In this case I honestly and whole
heartedly believe that I saw total brilliance at the
show’s opening night performance.  

Words flood my mind.  Words like “brilliant,”
“splendid,” and “captivating.” Later, I spent a fitful
night, tossing and turning as I attempted to sleep,
but, instead, lived and relived the theatrical
experience.

‘EQUUS’ concerns Alan Strang who appears to be an
introverted, obedient, not overly bright 17-year old
with a passion for horses.   One night he blinds six
horses with a hoof pick.  What drove him to do it? He
is placed under psychiatric surveillance.  He is an
unresponsive patient who is woken each night by
terrible nightmares, and his yelling “eck” over and
over.  Psychiatrist Martin Dysart eventually is able
to help his patient grasp the answer to the
psychological puzzle.  In the process, Dysart finds
out as much about himself as he does about his client.
  Dysart reflects: "That boy has known a passion more
ferocious than I have felt in any second of my life. 
That boy stands in the dark for an hour, sucking the
sweat off his god's hairy cheek!"

Shaffer based the play on a true English crime.  From
sketchy details, Shaffer constructed a fictional
account of what might have caused the incident.  Many
theatre critics consider ‘EQUUS’ to be one of the most
significant English language plays of the last half of
the 20th century.

William Roudebush’s reimagination of the script brings
forth meanings I never knew the play contained.  I saw
the original Broadway production in 1975. I find this
production to be superior.    

>From the moment one enters the theatre to see six
buffed males wearing only skin colored dance belts
going through stretching exercises and watch as they
morph into horses who paw the ground, flex their
powerful flanks, whinny and gallop, until the
startling conclusion, the viewer knows this is a
special experience. Roudebush, aided by Martin
Cespedes’ amazing choreography, has created a focused
and involving experience that is not all show, but one
that develops the author’s intent and purpose.  

Roudebush doesn’t use gimmicks, such as having the
horses created by the use of wire head sets, as was
the case on Broadway.  He and Cespedes transform men
into horses.  He doesn’t flaunt the full-frontal
nudity, which is drawing ticket buyers to see Daniel
Radcliff (of Harry Potter fame) in the forthcoming
revival of the play in London.  The nudity is so
natural, so well ensconced into the essence of the
play, that it is neither lewd nor intended to whet the
prurient appetite to see an actor and actress perform
unclothed.

Matthew Wright who portrays Martin Dysart, the
psychiatrist, rivals Anthony Perkins’ performance in
the original Broadway production.  Wright clearly
creates a human with unique abilities to work with
those with mental illnesses, but who has personal
frailties.  The psychiatrist’s strengths and
vulnerabilities are obvious in this intelligent
character study.  

Dan Folino’s Alan Strang, has a vulnerability and
introspection that I think exceeds Tom Huce, who
played opposite Perkins.   Folino, known to local
audiences mainly as a marvelous singer (e.g., ‘BEAUTY
AND THE BEAST’) creates a tortured soul who is totally
believable in his angst.  Folino knows just when and
how to not only go inside his soul but collapse in a
primal scream.  Folino’s performance is dazzling.

The rest of the cast is absolutely on target.  Rose
Leininger, Alison Garrigan, Lenne Snively,  Jeffrey
Glover and Bernadette Celemens each develop clear and
consistent characters.

As the horses, Franklyn Singley, Jose Ayala III, Bill
DePetro, E. Ray Goodwin, Jr., Ryan Lahetta and Vincent
Martinez are mesmerizing.  We never see men, we see
horses. WOW!!

Don McBride reformatted Beck’s stage from a
proscenium, having part of the audience sit on the
stage, facing the rest of the audience, who populate
the regular auditorium seating, allowing the
spectators to become  an intimate part of the action. 
This reformatting means that, at times, members of the
cast are facing away from some audience members. 
Though there is a minor loss of sound, it does not
cause the missing of many lines and is more than
compensated for by the overall experience.

Light designer Trad A. Burns creates effects which
greatly enhance the entire experience.  The casting of
shadows, the key-color lighting of certain parts of
the stage, and the making for clear transitions, was a
work of genius.  Richard B. Ingraham’s sound design
was also well conceived.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   Beck’s ‘EQUUS’ is not a go-see,
it is MUST-see.  If you only go to one theatrical
production this year, make it ‘EQUUS.’  It is
brilliant, amazing, compelling and awesome!!!

‘EQUUS’ runs through February 25 at The Beck Center
for the Arts in Lakewood.  For ticket information call
216-521-2540.




Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.  His dance reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
http://new.mail.yahoo.com