SAXTONS RIVER — A horse of another color is coming to Main Street Arts with a cutting-edge production of Peter Shaffer's Equus opening Thursday, June 28, for a two-weekend run.
This story of a deranged youth who has blinded six horses with a metal spike took critics and the public alike by storm and is now considered a modern classic.
Playwright Shaffer (who also wrote Amadeus ) weaves a psychological thriller that explores topics ranging from repressed sexuality to the spiritual decay of modern man.
The MSA production, directed by David Stern, runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 28, 29, and 30, and then again the next week as part of the second annual Great River Theater Festival.
All performances are at 7:30 p.m. and are suitable for ages 15 and older.
Members of the cast include Liam Johnson as the troubled Alan Strang and Michael Duffin as Martin Dysart, his psychiatrist, who is experiencing his own inner struggles with the meaning of existence.
Others are Cassie Dunn (Jill), Gavy Kessler (Frank Strang), Lynn Stanford (Dora Strang), Libby McCawley (Hester), Mark Tullgren (Dalton), and Albert Bupp (Horseman).
The six horses who play pivotal roles in the psychological drama surrounding Alan are played by Jackson Purdy, Ben Kaufman, Ben Hazeltine, Zoe Schemm, Henry O'Connell, and Alyssa Kerr.
The play opened on Broadway in 1974 and ran for 1,209 performances, earning a Tony award for best play and outstanding play awards from the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Drama Critics' Circle.