Written by Peter Shaffer
Directed by Thea Sharrock
Synopsis:
In Equus, psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Griffiths) investigates the blinding of six horses, a savage act committed by a mild-mannered stable boy, Alan Strange (Radcliffe), whose home life is filled with bigotry and religious fervor. As Dysart reveals the mysteries behind the boy's demons, he realizes he is confronting his own.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"Yet for all the inventive stagecraft of John Napier, the designer of this and the first production, and Ms. Sharrock (who stays close to the spirit of John Dexter’s original direction) — for all the prancing horse-masked dancers on the revolving stage with its Stonehenge-like blocks — I never felt a ripple of vicarious passion. The careful realism of Mr. Griffiths’s and Mr. Radcliffe’s performances makes you appraise their characters with a newly sober eye. "
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NEW YORK POST:
"Despite his almost total lack of stage experience - seven years of Potter in his magic kingdom suggest Shirley Temple rather than Laurence Olivier - Radcliffe, with his luminously intense eyes and fragile but wiry body, looks wonderfully right as Alan, the 17-year-old British boy besotted by everything equine "
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NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
"Both actors reprise roles they played last year in London, and their scenes together demand your attention, unlike the doc's lengthy monologues. They anchor Thea Sharrock's otherwise uneven and gimmicky production. There's more dry-ice mist than in a monster movie, and as blocks are forever being shoved around the stage, it's as if the set was inspired by a sectional sofa. "
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THEATERMANIA:
"Not only is the John Napier set design elegant, but the entire presentation vibrates with urgency."
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VARIETY:
"Stunt casting in theater can do a disservice to playwrights, with famous faces often monopolizing attention while devaluing the merits of the work itself. But in his impressive debut in a major stage role, as the disturbed adolescent in "Equus," Daniel Radcliffe significantly helps overcome the fact that Peter Shaffer's 1975 Tony winner doesn't entirely hold up. "
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NEWSDAY:
"He may be Harry Potter to the rest of the world. But for almost three hours on Broadway last night, Daniel Radcliffe, 19, quietly transfigured himself from adorable boy wizard to horrifically unstable teen stable boy - and, in the process, bravely established himself as a smart, intense, wildly serious stage talent. "
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NY1:
"The 35-year-old play certainly holds up today and thanks to a fine British revival, Peter Schaffer's remarkable drama remains essential Broadway viewing. Staged by Thea Sharrock, “Equus” remains a riveting synthesis of stage craft and theatrical vision. "
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NEW YORK SUN:
"In general, however, Mr. Radcliffe accentuates the strains of evasion and scorn common to all adolescents without slighting the deeper veins of unrest. And even though Mr. Griffiths falls back on rumpled-academic shtick here and there — with much rubbing of the eyes and scratching of the head as he ruminates — he also gives Dysart a welcome burst of energy whenever his assumptions are jostled. "
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TIME OUT NY:
"That lurid, once-shocking material is showing its age, even if it’s not quite time for the glue factory. And the uneven cast drags the pace down too often. "
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