#91: Equus

Performances: 1,209.
Open / Close: October 24, 1974 – October 2, 1977
Theater: Plymouth Theatre.
Tony Awards: Nominated for 5 including Peter Firth for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for playing Alan, Frances Sternhagen for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. Neither of them won but the production won Best Play and John Dexter won as Best Director.
Fun Fact: .Playwright Peter Schaffer started out as a novelist. Writing in partnership with his brother Anthony under the pseudonym Peter Anthony, he wrote 3 detective novels between 1951 and 1955 years before his first big play, Five Finger Exercise, premiered in 1958 in London.

Podcast

We all know that sex sells, but is that the only thing that drove thousands of people to see “Equus” back in the mid-1970s? Listen in on my discussion with McLean Fletcher as we discuss the explosive intersection of sex, religion and psychology that playwright Peter Schaffer squeezes into this sometimes disturbing tale.

McLean starred in the Cadence Theatre production of the play in 2015 as Jill Mason, one of two characters who spend an extended scene naked on stage. McLean argues that the nudity wasn’t really the point but also, in many ways, really was the point. She’s smart, insightful and absolutely delightful in her analysis of the show, as well as a big fan of the Daniel Radcliffe starring revival in 2008.

I must make up for a grave omission from my conversation with McLean about “Equus.” As I mentioned in reference to the Tony Awards, Frances Sternhagen was nominated for her striking performance as Alan’s strictly religious and domineering mother. Even if you think you don’t, you probably know Frances Sternhagen, in part because she was a celebrated character acter in movies like “Misery,” one of her last prominent roles.

Not making the connection between Sternhagen’s performance in the original production and my guest, who was appearing in a stage version of “Misery” as we were talking, was a major missed opportunity. I also missed the chance to wax rhapsodic about her long and celebrated career, on stage, in films and on TV. Though she didn’t win for “Equus,” should had already won a Tony in 1973 for “The Good Doctor” and she would go on to win another in 1995 for “The Heiress.” On stage, she originated the role ultimately played in the movie of “On Golden Pond” by Katharine Hepburn.

Also, amidst all of the acting work she did over 6 decades, she also raised 6 children. She died late last year at the age of 93 a revered and respected stage veteran who was also charming and smart throughout her life. Check out this remembrance for a sense of what a special lady she was.