Equus review: Peter Shaffer's play still shocks 50 years on

Lindsay Posner's production of Peter Shaffer's Equus, starring Toby Stephens as psychiatrist Dr. Martin Dysart and Noah Valentine as Alan Strang, runs at the Theatre Royal, Bath until 25 July. The play, written in the 1970s, explores why 17-year-old Alan blinded six horses, blending religious ecstasy with sexual awakening. Stephens delivers a magnificent performance as a psychiatrist undergoing an existential crisis, while newcomer Valentine charts Alan's journey from aggression to revelation. Movement director James Cousins creates unsettling intimacy through six bare-chested actors portraying horses, with a first-act climax featuring a naked Alan in a pas-de-deux with Nugget (Ed Mitchell). The production's flaw is Equus's dated skepticism of psychiatry, but Shaffer's imagery remains disturbing. Audiences leave in conflicted astonishment, 50 years on.