Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Veronika Stošková When a Moment of Love Becomes a Crime of Passion: Equus A Play by Peter Shaffer Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2013 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. for her kind and helpful guidance. I would also like to thank my partner for his support and patience. Table of Contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………. 5 2. Theatrical Production of Equus………………………………………….. 7 3. Plot Summary……………………………………………………………...12 4. Cultural and Social Background………………………………………….. 15 4.1. Portrayal of British Society in Equus…………………………….. 20 5. Origins and Meanings of Equus………………………………………….. 25 6. Themes in Equus………………………………………………………….. 27 6.1. Symbol of Worship……………………………………………….. 27 6.2. Religious and Ritualistic Imagery………………………………....29 6.3. Imagery of Ancient Greece……………………………….............. 33 6.4. Normalcy vs. Madness……………………………………………. 37 7. Conclusion………………………………………………………………....39 Works Cited………………………………………………………………. 41 English Abstract…………………………………………………............... 44 Czech Abstract……………………………………………………………. 45 1. Introduction Equus is a dramatic work written by English playwright Peter Shaffer in 1973. Its publication definitely brought an innovative spirit to the contemporary theatre. In fact, in all its aspects the play may be considered completely against the mainstream in a sense – Shaffer is not afraid to deal with taboo topics and openly criticize the provincialism of British society of 1970s. The publication of the play completely "subverted contemporary notions" (Shapiro) of worship, religion and normalcy, which, probably as Shaffer wished, forces people to think about it. The disturbing spirit of the story of Equus aroused in me an extreme curiosity that led me to read with attention every sentence and word of this particular dramatic text. The message Shaffer left on every single page of the book inspired me to write this thesis. The aim is to provide an overall analysis of all the aspects making the story of Equus so interesting and reveal why the play was so subversive for 1970s British society. Each chapter of the thesis will focus on a different topic. The following chapter, "Theatre Production of Equus", provides the principle motive that led the author to write the story and introduces the visual aspect of the play, showing its stage and performance innovation. Shaffer´s play largely devotes itself to the situation in then contemporary British society that had to face an abrupt transition from rooted Victorian traditions to the modern age. The chapter called "Cultural and Social Background" exactly deals with the issue of the process of transition that started especially in the 1960s. Apart from general information, it also provides an introduction for the following subchapter dealing with the portrayal of British society according to Shaffer´s Equus. - 5 - The sequence of subchapters of the "Main Themes in Equus" in detail analyzes the motives mentioned in the first paragraph – worship, religion, normalcy and, additionally, the Ancient mythology that plays an important role in the play. The purpose of this analysis is not to show how these motives are generally percieved by society, but on the contrary to show the negative and more extreme side of their own. - 6 - 2. Theatrical Production of Equus A bare setting and only a few actors remaining on the stage during the whole performance (Barnes 26). Despite such economy, an enthralling masterpiece is hidden behind the theatre curtain. A documentation of a crime, a journey into the mind, a detective story (Barnes 26), thriller or a psychodrama – these all are attributes of a particular dramatic work. Its title is as simple as the stage – Equus, in Latin meaning a horse. However, the horse in fact has a very important role in the play – it represents an object of worship for an adolescent hippophile boy Alan Strang, who is treated by a child psychiatrist Martin Dysart. In the preface, called "A Note on the Play", Shaffer comments on how exactly the story of the play came about (Shaffer 11): One weekend over two years ago, I was driving with a friend through bleak countryside. We passed a stable. Suddenly, he was reminded by it of an alarming crime which he had heard about recently at a dinner party in London. He knew only one horrible detail, and his complete mention of it could barely have lasted a minute - but it was enough to arouse in me an intense fascination (Shaffer 11). That alarming crime Shaffer wrote about had been committed several years before by a "highly disturbed young man" (Shaffer 11) who had blinded several horses with a metal spike. As the motive of such a dreadful event lacked any coherent explanation (Shaffer 11), people could not help talking about it and asking why the boy did it. The public attention the unknown motive attracted inspired Shaffer to find a comprehensible interpretation. But he never received confirmed details of that story, it means, he did not know the name of that young man, place of the accident nor time, so all other incidents and persons are only his own imagination (Shaffer 11). To keep the story as realistic as possible, despite the real affair mentioned above, he collaborated - 7 - with a child psychiatrist (Shaffer 11) while writing the play but he did not mention his name in the book. In the same year of publishing, on July 26, Equus was first presented by the National Theatre at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Shaffer was well aware of what pushes people to buy the published text of a new play (Shaffer 9). They simply want to recall the particular feeling they experienced in the theatre. That catharsis, as the feeling is generally called, is not composed merely of the dialogues, but the gestures and visual action (Shaffer 9). Exactly the ability to animate the play with deeply expressive visual details (Shaffer 9) was the domain of John Dexter. He had already successfuly directed Shaffer´s previous plays The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Black Comedy (Shaffer 10), therefore their next cooperation on Equus was more than sure. Shaffer himself really admired his creative capacities and innovative theatrical stylisations (Shaffer 9) making the story more compelling, which definitely helped the play to be received with a great applause, both by the audience and the critics. In a visual sense, representing an important part of Equus, Dexter was a master of gestures and economy (Shaffer 9), which was often characterized by simple properties, such as a plain plank, or effective alternation of clear light and dark (Shaffer 9). The stage according to Shaffer is described as "a square of wood set on a circle of wood" (Shaffer 13), where the square is designed to resemble a boxing ring (Shaffer 13) creating thus illusion as if the audience watched "the fight". But it is not the only metaphor – the description of the stage evokes the idiom "of forcing a square peg to fit into a round hole" ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?"). In order to place the peg into the round hole, it is necessary to change its shape and remove a significant part of it. Such process suggests a metaphor of Dysart shaping and thus removing an important part of Alan´s personality to fit the rules of the - 8 - society ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?"). Aesthetically, Dexter was influenced mainly by the so called Noh Drama, a traditional Japanese theatrical form, and by a non-Aristotelian drama originally created by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht (Shaffer 9). Generally, Noh drama is based especially on men actors wearing special masks to play both male and female roles. With one particular mask it is possible to express a variety of emotions depending on the angle in which the actor turns it towards the audience ("Noh Theatre"). In Equus, the idea of using masks is slightly upgraded – actors wear them to perform horses. Shaffer had a clear view of how these masks of horsedom should look like - he described them as special constructions made of silver wires and leather (Shaffer 17). Besides, he elaborated quite detailed rules for actors how to act in playing these horses in order to give the whole performance a more realistic expression: The actors should never croach on all fours, or even bend forward. They must always stand up upright, as if the body of the horse extended invisibly behind them. Animal effect must be created entirely mimetically, through the use of legs, knees, neck, face, and the turn of the head which can move the mask above it through all the gestures of equine wariness and pride. Great care must also be taken that the masks are put on before the audience with very precise timing – the actors watching each other, so that the masking has an exact and ceremonial effect (Shaffer 17). As for the non-aristotelian drama, or epic drama as it is often called, its title suggests some clash with classical dramatic structure proposed by Aristotle in his Poetics ("Theory of Tragedy"). According to Aristotle, the dramatic work, no matter if - 9 - it is tragedy or comedy, should follow three unities – the unity of time, place and action. In fact, Equus breaks all of them. The play contains numerous flashbacks providing a glimpse into the past and the plot does not follow only one particular character. It is more focused on every individual character rather than a single hero. The story is therefore a net of several plots shading into each other.