i had the chance to watch the preview of
EQUUS last night...yes, that play where Daniel Radcliff did a full monty in the west end and broadway productions...i was lucky i got invited to the preview whose audience was composed mostly of members of the press, theatre actors and family and friends of the cast members...what made it even more special was that ms. lea salonga also watched last night...we were on the same row although she was at the lower orchestra - center while i was on the right...anyway, the philippine production of
EQUUS will officially open tonight (onstage, greenbelt 1)...
the play is about the encounter of a psychiatrist named martin dysart and a 17 year old boy named alan strang...the way i understood it, dysart is a respected psychiatrist while alan is a behaviorally challenged boy, to say the least...alan did a horrible thing with the six horses he was taking care of in the stables of harry dalton...he was brought to dysart after the lawyer (magistrate) who represented him succesfully dodged the possibility of him being brought to jail...dysart tried to unearth the reason behind alan's actions...the result was a psychological thriller that surely awakened/shocked/bothered/excited everyone in the audience including me...
the two lead stars were for me very good...miguel faustmann who played the role of dysart was convincing...on stage he was really a psychiatrist...marco manalac was really good as the young boy full of angst...the moment he entered the stage singing the jingle of a mint gum fom a tv commercial with clenched fists, you would already know that the role he is playing is that of a broken person...his acting was consistent...he can smoothly move from a person who is angry to someone who is frustrated to someone who just wants to mask his true emotions...you could tell whether what he was saying was a recollection from alan's recent past or from some five years ago...he was intense...every time marco tenses up his muscles i could feel it as if was he standing right next to me...and his stare...penetrating...i particularly liked the scene that capped off the first act...there was so much emotions coming out of the boy...i couldn't understand what he was saying anymore because of the loud sound but i could understand how or what alan was supposed to be feeling...of course the scene where he blinded the horses with the hoof pick was also thrilling...one more thing that made the scene memorable was the fact that marco was naked thorughout this scene...this is probably the longest nudity i've ever seen in a play...around 10 - 15 minutes if i'm not mistake...pheona baranda who played jill, his partner in that scene was also naked for a long time...there was even a part where marco was on top of pheona...such brave souls they are...the nudity was much talked about during daniel radcliff's stint in the west end production of
EQUUS so i thought that the nudity in the local production would be a stealer...but you know what, because of the intensity of marco's acting, and pheona's as well, you would almost forget that their reproductive organs are there totally exposed for everyone to see (or critisize)...
the other actors were also good...tami monsod who played marco's mom dora strang was good as expected...the guys who played horses, especially the one who played the lead horse nuggets, should also be given credits because it's not easy walking on stage on high horseshoes...
i think audie gemora directed the play really well...lighting design (by john batalla) was also good...the red lights prominent during the last scene of act 1 was really effective...set design (by denis lagdameo) and set excution (by adul lasin) was also good...they used just a few pieces but the overall effect of the stage was not left wanting...the sound design (jethro joaquin) was also okay but it is the sound system which i think they need to improve on...there were a few times where i didn't understand what the actors were saying especially during the early parts of act 2...
EQUUS by the Repertory Philippines has a limited run
July 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24 - 8:00 pm
July 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, - 3:30 pm
onstage, greenbelt 1
makati city
