恋马狂 (1973)

《恋马狂》（Equus）是一出由彼得·谢弗创作，于1973年发表，在伦敦进行首演，其后移师至百老汇，并于世界各地（例如：纽约、伦敦、台北等）多次上演，累计上演二千场次以上；于1975年获得东尼奖最佳剧本殊荣。

此剧最近的香港版于2014年5月由甄咏蓓导演、黄秋生和张敬轩主演的舞台剧。此剧由黄秋生及甄咏蓓成立的神戏剧场主办及制作，假于香港演艺学院香港赛马会演艺剧院合共上演21场。

故事大纲

17岁的马厩少年Alan一夜间刺瞎了马厩的6匹马，造成轰动社会的异闻，其父母找来心理医生Martin为他治疗，Martin与Alan多次会面，逐步揭露Alan的往事，亦了解到Alan的个性及家庭状况。虽然Alan是刺瞎6匹马的“凶手”，但Martin发现他极端爱马，爱到崇拜的地步，把马视作神祇。然而，在治疗的过程中，Martin渐渐陷入一种迷思，年轻的Alan看似“疯狂”，但Martin看到了Alan对马的情感是何等汹涌澎湃，而这等热情正正失落于社会。不论是Martin或是Alan的父母，这些在社会意义上都是“成熟”、“正常”的人，但又是否有血有肉？相较于他们判断年轻的Alan，这种年少的“疯狂”和他们那“成熟”的“正常”，哪一种又较合乎人性？

门票

门票预售突破1,700,000英镑。

评价

外界对最近的香港版本评价普遍正面：“如果从演技的角度看，《Equus》这次的成绩确是相当可观，黄秋生的实力当然不用置疑，有着名角的气场，站出来已台型兼戏味十足，其他几个角色像演少年父母的陈永泉和伍洁茵，裁判官的张雅丽和少年在马房共事的方皓玟已不止恰如其分，各人都有突出表现”

Equus is a 1973 play by Peter Shaffer, about a child psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses.

Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard of a crime involving a 17-year-old boy who blinded 26 horses in a small town in northern England. He set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime, and to evoke the same "air of mystery" and "numinous" qualities as his 1964 play The Royal Hunt of the Sun but in a more modern setting. The narrative of the play follows Dr. Martin Dysart's attempts to understand the cause of the boy's (Alan Strang) actions while wrestling with his own sense of purpose and the nature of his work.

The original stage production ran at the National Theatre in London from 1973 to 1975, directed by John Dexter. Alec McCowen played Dysart, and Peter Firth played Alan Strang. The first Broadway production starred Anthony Hopkins as Dysart (later played by Richard Burton, Leonard Nimoy, and Anthony Perkins) and Firth as Alan. When Firth left for Broadway, Dai Bradley took over the role of Alan in the London production, playing opposite Michael Jayston as Dr. Dysart. Tom Hulce later replaced Firth during the Broadway run. The Broadway production ran for 1,209 performances. Marian Seldes appeared in every single performance of the Broadway run, first in the role of Hesther and then as Dora. Shaffer would later adapt the play for a 1977 film of the same name directed by Sidney Lumet.

The narrative centres on religious and ritual sacrifice themes, as well as the manner in which Strang constructs a personal theology involving the horses and the godhead "Equus". Alan sees the horses as representative of God and confuses his adoration of his "God" with sexual attraction. Also important is Shaffer's examination of the conflict between personal values and satisfaction and societal mores, expectations, and institutions, and between Apollonian and Dionysian values and systems.

Plot summary

Act 1

Martin Dysart is a psychiatrist working in a psychiatric hospital. He begins with a monologue in which he outlines the case of 17-year-old Alan Strang, who has blinded six horses. He divulges his feeling that his occupation is not all that he wishes it to be and his dissatisfaction and disappointment with his life. Dysart finds that the supply of troubled young people for him to "adjust" back into "normal" living is never-ending, but he doubts the value of treating these youths, since they will simply return to a dull, normal life that lacks any commitment or "worship". He comments that while Strang's crime was extreme, just such extremity is needed to break free from the chains of existence.

A court magistrate, Hesther Saloman, visits Dysart, believing that he has the skills to help Alan come to terms with what he did. At the hospital, Dysart struggles to engage with Alan, who at first responds to questioning by singing TV advertising jingles.

Dysart reveals a dream he has had, in a Homeric Grecian setting, in which he is a public official presiding over a mass ritual sacrifice. One after another, he slices open the abdomens of hundreds of children and pulls out their entrails. He becomes disgusted with what he is doing, but fears being murdered in the same manner if discovered as a "non-believer" by the other priests, and so continues. Eventually the other priests become aware of his misgivings and grab the knife from his hand, at which point he awakens from the dream.

Dysart interviews Alan's parents. He learns that, from an early age, Alan has been receiving conflicting views on religion from his parents. Alan's mother, Dora, is a devout Christian who has read to him daily from the Bible, but this practice has antagonized Alan's father Frank, a non-believer.

Slowly, Dysart makes contact with Alan by playing a game where each of them asks a question, which must be answered honestly.