Review: EQUUS at Chungmu Arts Center, Black, 'Equus...Noble Equus'

Have you ever felt drawn to a specific animal? It could be a big bear or a small rabbit, but whatever it is, you somehow are magically drawn to it and can't take your eyes off, with emotions exploding inside you? Well, for Alan Strang, horses were the case. The immersive story of Alan with his devoted love for horses, and a psychiatrist who struggles with his own problems as he manages Alan, EQUUS had its first show of 2018 production on August 22nd.

EQUUS, a play written by Peter Shaffer has gathered much attention and love ever since its first performance at The National Theatre in London. Peter Shaffer was inspired to write EQUUS after he heard the story of a 17-year-old who blinded six horses in a town near Suffolk. Without researching about any of the details of the crime, he created EQUUS, only using his imagination to unfold the story of why the boy did what he did.

The story of EQUUS starts with Dr. Martin Dysart, a child psychiatrist who gets a commission from Hesther Saloman, a court magistrate. She asks him to help Alan, a 17-year-old boy who blinded six horses. Dysart talks with Alan's parents, to find out that Alan was raised in a household with two conflicting viewpoints. His mother, Dora who is a devout Christian has immersed Alan into the Christian beliefs while his father, Frank a nonbeliever despise her teachings to Alan. Dysart manages to coax Alan into playing a game where they only tell the truth. Through this game, Alan reveals about his feelings of sexual attraction to horses. Later on, Dysart hypnotizes Alan to find out that Alan was especially attached to one specific horse, Nugget. Alan was not only attracted to it but was more erotically fixated to Nugget, calling him Equus and secretly taking him for rides in the night. The play ends with Dysart questioning whether his practice helped Alan.

EQUUS has been a popular play in Korea, having more than 10 productions. It is also commonly regarded as one of the most difficult plays not only to perform but to also understand. As the show has been performed so many times, there are several actors who have been "fixated" as the most suitable for playing the role of Allan. For this year's performance, two actors were cast: Jeon Bakchan, an actor who has already played Allan several times and Ahn Seonggyun, who joined the cast of EQUUS for the first time. Though not considered as a principle actor, it is hard to not mention the actors who perform the role of the horses and Nugget. Nugget was played by Bae Eongyu and called the chorus, the horses were performed by Cho Hyeongil, Lee Donghoon, Shin Dongchan, Lee Myunggyu, Hyun Ikchang, and Kim Sunjin.

EQUUS was definitely one of the hardest plays to understand. The play was filled with religious connotations and the overall atmosphere was captivating. However, as difficult as it was to understand, there were many scenes where it showed why this play was so popular. The revealing of a person's deepest desire and the realistic struggles that one goes through because of those desires were clearly shown in EQUUS.

EQUUS plays at Chungmu arts center, Black until November 18. Tickets start at 44,000 KRW and you must be 16-years-old and older in order to see the show. Tickets can be bought on online at www.globalinterpark.com or offline at the ticket booth. Be sure to check the cast and discounts prior to buying the show.

For more information, please visit www.globalinterpark.com.

Photo Credit: Ninestory