Equus Play Themes

The play Equus is a unique story, to say the least. The visual and sensory aspect of the play is very interesting because of its many layers like playing with the actors and the audience’s placement on stage, the stage itself, the lights, the sounds and the costumes. This play also has many different themes and it makes the reader and\or audience question many common beliefs and perceptions about life and people. The setting and the meaning of the production are very connected and depend on each other to give its recipient the full desired effect and understanding about the subtle and often argued messages.
Some of the major themes of Equus are modern society, normality and blame. The play is a strong critique on the commercialized and conformist society that we live in and its effect on the individuality of people. It critiques society’s obsession with normality and the …show more content…
As Martin Dysart explains, “the normal is the good smile in a child’s eyes,” but also “the dead stare in a million adults.” (Shaffer, 19) Psychiatry is the most popular way of taking care of the ‘abnormal’ people. A psychiatrist’s main responsibility is to find the causes, in other words the blame, of someone’s mental issues and help rehabilitate them to a state of ‘normality’ to then be able to reincorporate them into functioning society.
The stage setting accentuates these themes and gives the viewers a better understanding of each role that the different “watchers” play. The stage consists of a square set on top of a circle. Most of the scenes are played out on the square, where there are three small benches. Outside the circle, there are more benches where Dysart sits to listen and Alan’s parents sit to