Bob Brown

THE PinnWorth production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus at the Kelsey Theatre is quite an ambitious undertaking for a community theater group. Directed by Lou J. Stalsworth, this play is heavy with dramatic turns and ethical dilemmas. It asks a lot of its performers. But more than that, it’s demanding for audiences too. There is such a torrent of words and emotions; just as you’re about to grasp the [msu: importance: ]importance of what a character is saying, the action tilts in another direction. It’s like getting hold of a kaleidoscope and trying to pin its images down.

   Shaffer was inspired to write the play after reading of a real incident involving a teenage boy who blinded six horses. Although Shaffer did not know what motivated the boy, his play is a speculative journey through the byways of teenage angst, the profession of child psychiatry, childrearing, religion, sexual perversion, and local law enforcement — oh yes, and all tangled up in equine husbandry. A horse is a horse, of course, of course — except of course when it’s a deified sexual fetish to a troubled youth.

   That youth is 17-year-old Alan Strang (Matty Daley), a boy whose complicated case is brought to the attention of Dr. Martin Dysart (John M. Shanken-Kaye) by Hester (Marina Vrahnos), a local magistrate. As she explains, Alan’s crime is so horrific that all are repulsed by it. Alan has stabbed out the eyes of six horses at a local stable where he works. Because Alan will not cooperate, Hester believes Dysart is the only one who can bring him out of himself and back to some kind of normalcy, as the doctor has done with so many other troubled youths.

   In the style of plays from the 1970s, the stage is barren except for a few platforms and stools, which serve variously as props on which to re-create scenes of the past, or to depict Dysart in his office, quizzing Alan or his parents, Frank (Sean McGrath) and Dora (Jean Prall Rosolino). Other characters in the play sit on benches at the darkened perimeter, coming into the light to dramatize incidents Alan recalls: among them are Nugget (Keith Harper), his first and only mount; Dalton (Steve Grossman), the stable manager who hired him; and Jill (Nicole Patrick), a stable co-worker who has taught him how to groom the animals, and would like to teach him more.

   As Dysart probes the nearly catatonic Alan (who will only answer in advertising jingles), the doctor’s own loveless and mundane life is seen in contrast. Patient begins to probe doctor, and each suffers under the wilting spotlight as secrets and truths are laid bare — both figuratively and literally. In breakthrough moments Alan stands fully naked in his anguish. The progress is slow and tortured, even for Frank and Dora, whose opposing views are seen as part of Alan’s problem: Frank the atheist and Dora the suppressed religious fanatic have pulled their son in different directions.

   Questions arise: Are Alan’s actions the result of his own inner demons, or are they the result of parental warping? Is Dysart in effect destroying a boy’s capacity for life-affirming passion, even while he’s curing him? Is the doctor creating a generation of “normal” dispassionate young men, while he himself languishes, troubled that he doesn’t care about anything nearly so much as Alan does? What or whom can we believe in anymore? As Dysart muses, sometimes the bigger questions are outside the realm of the clinic.

   This play is rich in language and philosophizing. It raises troubling issues about the role of child psychology, religion, and the dumbing down of coming generations by the pernicious effects of popular culture and media. Television and sexual repression take their lumps, but the edifying effects of high culture and a classical education fare no better, as Dysart seems at no advantage for having had them.

   Performances by Shaken-Kaye, Daley, Rosolino and Patrick are particularly powerful and heartfelt. Be forewarned that this is strong stuff intended for mature and patient audiences. Its vocabulary is often frank and raw. One intense scene calls for two characters to strip naked and embrace, and there is some smoking on stage at the beginning of the first and second acts.

   In a play like this, audience members have the urge to discuss what it all means, sometimes while the action is still on. I found it necessary to move to another row to avoid the constant chatter behind me, which competed with the onstage dialogue. So please, as you sit musing, hold the conversation until the lights go up — tempting as it is to get involved. This is one you’ll definitely want to talk about.

• 
  
  Equus continues at the Kelsey Theatre on the Mercer County Community College Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, Nov. 6-8. Performances Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10-$14. 609-570-3333; www.kelseytheatre.net