I went to the Jones Theater on campus and watched the performance, Equus a story written by Peter Shaffer. The show has been played on Broadway for more than a thousand times and has been awarded numerous awards. .
The performance was about a young 17 year old boy named Alan Strang and his journey and upbringing as a stable boy. Who, by blinding numerous horses by plunging spikes into their eyes, caused a question by many people why he was the way that he was. The play begins after the incident in a mental hospital were a psychiatrist named Martin tries to figure out just why Alan did what he did. Dr. Martin soon finds out that Alan formed his own belief about God and who he was. In Alan's eyes his god was Equus, a horse. Alan lead a very secluded life and wasn't able to experience much, and because of that, he was able to form his own beliefs and find strength in what he believed in. There was a lot of symbolism acted out on religion, love, sex, and parental figures. Alan has a religious and almost sexual relationship with the horses but at the same time feels distress towards them and has fear for them. Towards the end of Equus, you can see very clearly that Alan definitely held resentment against both of his parents. His father because he held him back in so many ways and never let him watch television or even have one in the house. His mother because she brought so much religious influence down on him at an early age, he could never really distinguish between healthy worship and destructive. Alan is left confined, within, his parents, his own mind, and the doctors and nurses that are treating him. .
I saw this play as a real coming of age story. Alan, growing into his own and dealing with the mental anguish he had been suffering and the possible solution just at his fingertips. Throughout the play, there are obstacles and problems, but towards the end I got a sense of hope for this character.
