The Thousands

You heard Daniel Radcliffe nuded up for Equus on Broadway, and now you figure you can handle seeing Khan Chittenden do the same? Well, I did too. I entered the Maj seesawing between tween-level awkwardness and wisecracking bravado (I think I might have even made a ‘hung-like-a’ gag).

But Equus‘ brilliance is how much it affects its audience. Far from relying on shock value, the play paints the evocative picture of a horse brutalizing teenager (Chittenden) and a sexually frustrated psychiatrist (Blue Heelers‘ William McInnes, channeling Hopkins channeling McKellen), and then slowly pulls their lives and minds apart. You can’t help but rethink your own attitudes towards repression, sex and desire when you’re confronted with such a powerful production.

If you’re only thinking of seeing Equus to ogle some jangly bits, then I urge you to see it. You’ll leave that theatre with a whole new perspective on human nature. I know I did.