Article: Perth Now - Friday, August 21st, 2009

Horse Play

Maria Noakes, in STM Entertainment

REMEMBER the fuss in 2007 when Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe stripped off to play the psychotic and violent Alan Strang in Equus?

Well, now the controversial and seminal piece of British theatre is coming to Perth. In a coup, Perth Theatre Company has secured the exclusive southern hemisphere rights to the thought-provoking play.

The PTC production cast is headed by charismatic star of TV, film and theatre William McInnes and rising star and WAAPA graduate Khan Chittenden.

Centring on a bizarre act in which 17-year-old stableboy Strang, played by Chittenden, gouges the eyes out of six horses, Equusexplores humanity, truth and the fragility of life.

As child psychologist Dr Martin Dysart, played by McInnes, unlocks Strang’s obsession and sexual fantasies involving horses, he struggles with his own sense of purpose.

“He begins to question what is normality, what is it that I’m actually doing to these people (his patients), what is returning to an everyday functioning life – and is that normal, is that real?” McInnes says.

Revelling in the challenge of playing Dysart, McInnes says he’s looking forward to treading the boards again.

“That’s why you do a play like this. You get up and you want to blow the cobwebs out and have a go at a role that not many people get the chance to do,” he says.

But he’s is quick to dismiss any sort of controversy surrounding nudity in the play.

“If there’s a bit of nakedness in it, it’s not the point. The point of it is it’s all in context,” he says. “I mean you can see a streaker at the footy.”

When Equus debuted in London in 1973 it rocked the conservative majority and caused outrage and awe in equal measure. McInnes believes the play still has the ability to shock and confront audiences.

“I think the message of Equus is something that can still be confronting, that can still be an important piece of theatre,” he says.

“In the end it’s about compromising what you want life to be with the knowledge that life is incredibly brief and fragile.

“It sounds like a pretty heavy night at the theatre, but it’s entertaining and if people want to go and see something that’s going to make them think a bit then Equus is a show they should go and see.”

And how does theatre compare with film and TV for McInnes?

“You’ve got nowhere to hide in theatre. You can’t run away and fudge things,” he says. “It’s the difference between climbing a mountain and taking the chairlift.”

Equus
Sept 12-26.
His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth.
Tickets $55-$80, conc. $45-65, from BOCS.