This play in Hyderabad will force you to think out of the box and question beliefs

A troubled teen, a heinous crime, a psychiatrist, and some food for thought. This is what Equus, a play to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Dramatic Circle Hyderabad, entails. In this intense psychological thriller, a boy, Alan Strang, blinds six horses, and the magistrate takes him to a psychiatrist instead of a juvenile detention centre. While the psychiatrist uncovers the mystery of the crime, and the boy’s motives, it also leaves him in question about how we function as a society. “We all go from one mile stone to another in our life without actually knowing our passions, but this boy knows a very intense passion,” says Pranava Singhal, the director.

A disturbed relationship between his parents, his father’s secrets, his mother’s obsession with a holy book, unchanneled passions, and confusion in religions propels him to commit this heinous act. The disturbed boy, from childhood, has an attraction towards horses owing to some verses from the holy book, to the extent where he starts “worshiping” horses. when he confronts a horse, he also feels a strange connection with it, and does not know how to control such strong passions, which leads him to commit the crime. The revelations and discoveries in his sessions with the psychiatrist poses questions like ‘should passions which are not adhering to societal norms be tamed?’ and ‘what can overdose of religion do to a young person’s mind?'

“The psychiatrist is very intrigued by the whole incident, digs deeper, and tries to get something out of the boy, who is initially not cooperative. through the process, he evolves as a person, and realises that he is not essentially achieving as much as he thinks he is,” says Ranjan Ranganathan, playing the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart.

Playing such an intense role, Vishnu Vimal, the protagonist says, did take a toll on him initially. “I put myself in the character’s shoes and tried to understand why he feels what he feels. this helped me portray the character. I do not dwell on the character outside of my rehearsals, and don’t think about it unless I absolutely need to, and this helps with not having residual effects of the character in my personal life,” he says.

As the story is primarily in flash back to reveal Alan’s past, lighting and sound plays a very important role. “We have added music like choral and jazz to suit the multiple moods — gruesome sequences, romantic sequences, nightmare and dream sequences and many more,” explains Pranava.

On a concluding note, he talks about how finding a good performance space in Hyderabad can be very challenging, as there are no auditoriums made specifically for theatre which are accessible to everybody.