University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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' S h a f f e r ' s Pulitzer Prize winning Equus, performed Feb- I ruary 27 through March 2 by the Department of Theatre and Dance, is a lesson in psycholo- gy-a mystical journey through a dis- turbed mind. Directed by George Crook, the- production was the first of its convention-defying nature to be performed in Hattiesburg. Instead of merely telling a story, it perplexed the minds of its viewers by exploring the unsettling question of the right of the unimpassioned to take away the happiness along with the pain of the deranged. Alan Strang, played by Marlin Seal, is a young man who sexually worships horses. Much of the play takes place in Rokesby Psy- chiatric Hospital in Southern England where Martin Dysart, played by Clay Rouse, at- tempts to uncover the cause of Alan's pecu- liar behavior. Dysart finds that Alan came from a back- ground of religious contradiction. His mother encouraged the worship of God while his fa- ther frowned upon it. Alan became obsessed Jwith television and biblical stories of horses. When his father ripped down a picture of Jesus hanging in Alan's room after an argu- ment about religion, his son replaced it with one of a horse, creating his own god, Equus. The character of Alan Strang keeps every- thing within himself, including his fear that reality means living a life without sexual or religious fulfillment. His escape is his horses. He enjoys riding them in the nude, recalling the pleasure of a childhood horse-riding ex- perience as sexual. He is sent to the hospital for the crime of blinding six horses-with a metal hoof pick after the animals witnessed his attempt to have sex with a girl in the stables. Alan is driven to commit the horrible deed when he realizes that he has betrayed his god lEquusl by expressing sexuality with a female in the temple l couldn't see her, Alan laments to Dysart. Every time I kissed her-He was in the way. Dysart's final analysis is that Alan's worship is all he has to live for. It's the core of his life. What else has he got? He can't read or write. He has no music except for television jingles. He has no friends . . . he lives for one hour every three weeks. Other members of the cast included Carol Owen as the nurse, Janet Reed as Hester Salomon, David Stevens as Frank Strang, Heidi Cline as Dora Strang, Tracy Pigford as Nugget, Michael Weinberger as Harry Dal- ton, Lulu McBride as Jill Mason, and Tim Bond, Gabriel Masson, Marty McKeever, and Eric Sorensen as the horses. The play was performed in the USM Performing Arts Cen- ter. Karen Godail Directed and designed by George Crook Original score by Raoul Jerome and H.J. Powell Arranged and conducted by Harold Powell Choreography by Dorothy Peaches Rogers Costumes by Larry Mullican Technical direction by Robert Hill

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