'Equus' still has horsepower

Most people have no trouble fitting in with the crowd, wearing all the right clothes, using the accepted lingo and marching forward in lockstep to the golden hills of suburbia.\nAnd most people just march on, without passion, without any sense of the divine.\nPeter Schaffer's 1973 landmark drama "Equus" takes a critical look at this trade-off.\nStaged by the University Theatre, "Equus" concerns the 17-year-old Alan Strang, who inexplicably blinded five horses with a metal spike. It runs through Saturday.\nStubborn and uncommunicative with the authorities, Alan is charged to psychiatrist Martin Dysart, who is going through a crisis of professional faith. \nAt first, Alan only dementedly sings television jingles. But Dysart eventually gets him to open up and slowly uncovers the truth behind the act of brutal violence. An erotic encounter on a beach cut short by his overbearing father inspired Alan's fascination with horses, which later took on a religious tone. He went so far as to replace a Caravaggio reproduction of Jesus Christ on his drawer with a page from a horse calender. And he partook of self-flagellation before the image in an elaborate ritual of his own design.\nJill, a stable girl, allowed him to come close to his object of worship, arranging a weekend job for him. A failed attempt to make love to her in the stable drove him over the edge and gave him an irrepressible urge to prevent his pagan gods from witnessing his shame.\nAs Dysart peels back layer after layer, he becomes more doubtful about the good of his work. \nRealizing that he'll leave Alan an empty shell, he wonders if the so-called cure wouldn't be worse than the disease. And, despairing over his anemic marriage, he even begins to cultivate envy for Alan.\nOpening Friday, the production did justice to the towering classic of contemporary theater. Director Murray McGibbon stayed faithful to the text, even staging the play in a proscenium-like setting with audience members sitting up on stage along with the cast. \nThe action takes place in a boxing-ring like area, meant to resemble a stable. The actors playing the horses don wooden hooves and highly stylized horse masks, intended by the playwright to increase their abstract quality as object of Alan's worship.\nThe acting was phenomenal, particularly that of junior Bradley Fletcher, who plays Alan. He beautifully conveyed the rage and confusion of the young boy. But he didn't rely on a crutch of petulance for the character, which would have been the lazy way to go. Fletcher flexed like a gymnast, alternating from anger to innocent vulnerability without a stitch.\nGraduate student Erik Anderson, who plays Dysart, likewise gave a bravura performance. But, like Richard Burton in the film version, he seemed miscast for the role. With a physical presence and husky baritone, it didn't seem altogether credible when he spoke of spending his evenings hunching over a coffee table book of ancient Grecian art. The character is supposed to be a timid introvert, whose domestic life has been rotting away for years. He's best compared to a priest who has lost his belief in the existence of God.\nBut Fletcher and Anderson have great chemistry on stage, playing well off of each other. And the rest of the cast hit all the right notes, fleshing out their respective characters.\nBeyond the obviously well-rehearsed acting, the production fares extremely well with its minimalism. The lighting and musical backdrop enhance the play's chilling subject matter without distracting from it.\nIf one decides to see only a single play this year, "Equus" would be the best bet. It's a provocative and technically superb evening of theater. Psychologically riveting, it's an intense play that gets one to thinking about the passion in one's own life. \n"Equus" plays daily through Saturday at the University Theatre. Curtain time for all shows is 8 p.m. Tickets for all performances are $11.50 and $10.50 for students and seniors. For ticket information, call 855-1103.\n"Equus" contains adult language, adult situations and nudity. It also has smoking on stage.