Equus

“Equus”, presented by the Lieder Theatre Company, will be opening at The Goulburn Lieder Theatre on Wednesday March 14th at 8pm and will run through the whole of March with performances on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with a matinee on Sunday 25th March at 4pm.

Written by Peter Shaffer the play is a powerful piece of theatre with a wonderful cast including Stephen Convery, Joshua Waters, Bruce Gerard, Kathy Campbell and Fiona Churchill, ably supported by Ellie McMahon, Greg Seckold, Kieran Millward, Mathew Doherty, Geoff McMahon, David Raynor, Shane Daly and Jenny Nell.

Shaffer was inspired to write his play when he heard of a crime involving a teenage boy's apparently enseless injury to horses. He then set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime.

The play reads like a form of detective story. The boy, who worked part-time in the stables where the attack occurred, would take a certain horse out for occasional night rides. Those jaunts functioned as the set piece for an elaborate ritual of exaltation constructed by his anguished psyche.

Delving into the boy Alan's tormented mind causes Dysart, the assigned psychiatrist, to confront his own spiritual disillusionment. Dysart reflects:

"That boy has known a passion more ferocious than I have felt in any second of my life. And let me tell you something: I envy it. ... I watch [my wife]...night after night—a woman I haven't kissed in six years— and he stands in the dark for an hour, sucking the sweat off his god's hairy cheek!"

“Equus” is one of the most significant English-language plays of the past 30 years. Anybody who hasn't seen it or read it needs to, if they care at all about theatre or literature.

"Tickets can be booked by ringing The Lieder Theatre on 4821-5066 or in person at Michael Connolly Chemist, 312 Auburn Street Goulburn

Warning; This play contains strong sexual references, language and nudity