Ira Mandela Siobhan appears in Peter Shaffer’s Equus from English Touring Theatre and Theatre Royal Stratford East. Inspired by a true story, this gripping and transfixing psychological thriller is re-imagined by award-winning theatre director Ned Bennett in this major new revival for 2019.
Full Tour dates and tickets can be found here
You’re appearing in Equus, for anyone not familiar with the play how would you describe it?
Equus is about a boy called Alan Strang who blinds 6 horses with a metal spike and he sees a psychiatrist called Dr Dysart, played by Zubin Varla. Dysart tries to help him and Alan’s parents to work out why he’s done this. But through Alan’s treatment, Dysart himself starts to realise that he is envious and jealous of this young man because he has this incredibly true experience with horses. The boy has built up an obsession with these animals from a very young age and has begun to view them as god-like figures. So really it’s about the way in which an audience member may view Alan as a troubled young boy and a problem in society but as the play goes on we realise we’ve all got problems, it’s just the way their dealt with that makes them acceptable.
Tell us about your character(s)?
One of my character is Nugget. Nugget is a horse that Alan has a really close connection with and chooses to ride in secret at night because he views Nugget as the physical manifestation of the horse-God Equus. My other character is the horseman who is a young upper-class guy who owns horses and introduces Alan to his first experience with the animal.
What have you enjoyed most about preparing your roles?
The preparation for this role felt really organic. I didn’t really come in with a pre-conception of how I was going to play the roles so it was great to get into the rehearsal rooms with a sense of freedom and through a collaborative approach I was able to be inspired by those around me. Through this we’ve slowly developed and layered the final piece. In the second day of rehearsals we basically ran through the whole play; we were told that anything goes, we could present our own interpretation of the text. This immediately freed up all the characters as any abstract ideas were out there for consideration. I always felt quite free in rehearsals.
What makes Ned Bennett’s production different from previous versions?
The fact that we’re not using the horse heads, it’s the first time that the play hasn’t stuck to the stage direction. The horses are completely neutral which requires us to embody the animal more than we would if we had the prop of a horses head. Also, the way that Ned does his work; the collaboration between the performers, lighting, sound, set design, the movement director, everyone is in the room all the time having these creative discussions. It feels like nobody is restricted in having a voice. Because of that we know that anything can go, nobody is going to get shut down, so everyone feels free to come up with their best ideas.
You’re opening at Stratford East before touring, what are you looking forward to about touring?
It’ll be really nice to get out of London. I’m looking forward to getting into theatres around England to see how they’ll react to this play. I’m very intrigued because obviously there is nudity and lots of taboo subjects concerning mental health and sexuality. London is a progressive city, so it’ll be interesting to see how the other audiences react.
What would you say to anyone thinking about coming to see Equus?
If you’re thinking about it; come.
This show is a very special production and I think it’s going to be one of those production that people talk about for a long time. I’ve had that feeling when there’s a massive buzz around something and then you miss it – so don’t miss this because you’ll regret it! I know people who’ve seen it, and the themes last with them for days afterwards. It’s such a thought – provoking piece.
Photo Credit: The Other Richard
