English Drama

Equus: The Use of Real Horses in the Film than in the Play

Peter Shaffer’s Equus has been appointed to the big screen and play so many times. Every play and the film have reached various comments from the expert. One of the concerns is the use of real horses in the film. The one and only film that has been produced is directed by Sidney Lunet in 1977. Sometimes they say that the uses of real horses are not appropriate to the play because of several points. Here I will distinguish my concern to give comments why the use of the real horses tends to detract the whole play.

The first reason why it is detracted the play is because Peter Shaffer, as the writer of the play, has mentioned in the original play that the Equus should played by actor that wearing stylized masks. Shaffer mentioned it briefly in the beginning of the play about “The Horses”. He wrote that: The actors wear track-suits of chestnut velvet, their feet are light strutted hooves set on metal horse-shoes, their hands are gloves of the same colour, their heads are tough mask made of alternating bands of silver wire and leather, and their eyes are outlined by leather blinkers. It is clearly described that Shaffer wants to say something like a symbol from the play so he managed the horses to be “an imaginary” horses played by actors wearing the stylized masked. Imagine that all the vital elements are being replaced with something that we already know how the original form is likely to be, here the horses.

Besides it detracts the Shaffer’s description, the essential of the play also being receded by using the real horses in the film. Using the element of reality is really hard to manage. Here, the real horses cannot manage how the scene should goes on. It means that the essential when the horses are present should be pictured properly, but when the horses are replaced by the real horses it is difficult to get the meaning how the scene should goes on. There are several points are being ignored, one of the examples is in the Scene 20 Act 1, when Alan demonstrated to Dysart how he began his ritual ceremonial with Equus represented by The Horse, Nugget, he is completely naked. What happened to Alan is exactly a religious hysteria and repressed hatred that comes to identify strongly with horses. If the real horses are added, it is regarded that the play losing its essential. In the film, the part when Alan tells Dysart about it, the viewer of the film will feel something strange. The viewer is hard to get the essential of the film, but in the play, when the audience sees the performance of the actors directly, I think that the audience has the same assumption about the meaning and get the point properly.

Meanwhile, because the use of the real horses in the film version, the relationship between Alan and the horses are not pictured properly. In the Scene 16 in Act 1, when Alan give Nugget an approach and touches the horse’s shoulder. As we know that horse does not have a shoulder, it is just a personification so that the scene would be “alive”. The slowly moving scene will be appeared to show the essential of why Alan doing that thing to Nugget, but when it all replaced, the slowly moving scene would hard to accomplish. Alan’s fantasy about the horses affects his sex orientation too.

In conclusion the use of the real horses as the elements of the play in the film is detracted the whole play. Not only because the essential of the play will be disturbed, but also the essential of the relationship between Alan and The Horses that Shaffer wanted to display will detract. Meanwhile, to keep the actors stylized with masks is the good idea to start the play. Somehow, play is so much better than the film because we can directly see how the actors will present their role not only from one direction. In addition, in the play, the assumption of the audience and the other will be the same as the play is being performed.

Sources

Rebert, Roger. Reviews: Equus. November 9, 1977. --<http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/equus-1977> (June 29, 2015)

--. Character Tracking - Alan Strang. Mr. Hoyes’ IB English Website <http://mrhoyesibwebsite.com/Drama%20Texts/Equus/Character%20Profiles/Alan.htm> (June 29, 2015)