Thoughts, analysis, questions, ideas about Peter Shaffer's drama from AP Literature students.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Post #1 [write about what you notice in the opening scene]
Write ideas, thoughts, analysis to opening scene(s). Each journal entry/post should be 8-10 sentences and quote text. One of the four should be a critique of a scene from the drama viewed online.
In this opening scene we are introduced to both Alan Strang a 17 year old and his therapist Martin Dysart. The play opens with Alan and his horse nugget embracing on the stage while Martin reflects on what he sees. When Alan exits Martin has a monologue addressing the problems he sees with his career. He feels horses are such complex creatures and children are even more complicated, yet he wants to handle them as a child psychiatrist. “Yet I handle children’s heads—which I must presume to be more complicated, at least in the area of my chief concern”(page 10). He claims that one case in particular has brought significant doubt to his profession. Something interesting about the playwrights style is the fact that he doesn’t have Alan speak but instead has Martin reflect on what he is seeing on the stage. The playwright also breaks the fourth wall by having Dysart “address both the large audience in the theatre and the smaller one on the stage.”(page 10). There are many questions that arise from the first scene. For example, why does Alan love horses so much and what is he attempting to compensate for? Also it will be interesting to see how Martin fits into the storyline and whether or not he will understand his own reasoning for being a therapist. Georgia Lambrakis
The first scene is comprised of a monologue from Martin Dysart. He is describing a scene he sees, a boy named Alan Strang embracing his horse, Nugget. He is described as being very tender with with his horse, while the horse is nudging him gently. However, Dysart is questioning the horse’s motives and thoughts. He cannot understand how the horse must feel being chained up: “...the non-stop jerks and jabs that are its daily life- and turn them into grief?” Dysart then turns to the audience, breaking the fourth wall, and reflects upon himself. He is questioning what he truly knows and doesn’t know. He feels lost and his deep, doubtful thoughts of his life are arising. He goes to the audience for answers, yet there are none. The play opens like this to engage the reader and create a deeper connection with Dysart. We don’t yet know what he does with his life or his connection to the boy, but we can feel sympathetic for him as he is feeling lost. Everyone knows how it feels to be scared and confused as Dysart is, making him a relatable character. Ella Petreski
Equus opens with Nugget (a horse) and Alan (a human) embracing while Dysart, set apart from them onstage, laments about the fact that he’s “an overworked psychiatrist” who is “lost” and “desperate” (10). Dysart’s words depict his own existential crisis; they don’t explain the curious and hearty horse/human embrace. He is clearly in his own head. “In a way, it has nothing to do with this boy,” he says (10). He’s using this phrase to describe his “chief concern,” though he’s also revealing that it is the horse that should be the focus of the rest of the play, not the boy. Dysart begins by wondering “what desire” of Nugget’s could be “nudging through the metal,” thus immediately attributing human struggles to Nugget (9). This combination of the humanization of horses, as well as the reinforcement of horses as the focal point of the play, sets the stage for the divine power that horses will hold in Alan’s life. Additionally, the fact that Dysart is not perturbed by Alan’s horse-worship acts as an important precursor for the sympathy that he will display towards Alan. - Gabi Sussman
Two things strike me as interesting after reading the opening scene. The first is the decision, at least for this version of the text, to include stage production notes from the original production in the stage directions. This includes the staging concept to have the main action take place mostly on the raised square on top of the circle, as well as having raised audience seating onstage against the upstage wall. Apparently the playwright must have liked that director’s interpretation of his work, because from clips of other productions of Equus it is evident that there are completely different stagings of his work. I can only assume that the playwright liked the Brechtian distancing effect created by raising the action on a pedestal and having the audience be within view of the audience. This primes the reader to think more critically about the work on a more conscious level instead of being only emotionally invested. Continuing with the theme of distancing, the choice to have Dysart directly address the audience in various monologues creates a similar kind of distancing effect. By telling the audience that what they are about to see is a story, that encourages the audience to think about what possible moral the story contains or point that Dysart is attempting to get across by telling the story. After all, all stories should have a point to them, right? Right? Ethan Karas
The opening scene of the play starts with Alan Strang hugging his horse Nugget tenderly, while the child therapist Dr. Dysart narrates. Something that surprised me was when Dysart started to address the audience and readers of the play after Alan walked off. He turns to the audience and reveals how "a horse's head is finally unknownable to me" (10), as is a child's head. He explains how he feels like he's "wearing that horse's head myself" and how much he relates to it. If this is the case, why does he work with children if they're more complicated? Is this something that'll be revealed at the end? Mari Shakishvili
The play begins with Alan Strang embracing Nugget, a horse, while Martin Dysart, set apart, comments on the nature of his personal grief with regard to the strange embrace, likening it to “a necking couple” (9). Dysart is quick to make obvious the “nonsensical” nature of the pair’s embrace, but it only complements his own strange predicament. He humanizes and relates to the horse, his personification of its “desire” coming from a question of its deeper motives. He questions whether it grieves and about what “use” “grief” would be to a horse (10). This introduces his existential struggle, his profession as a psychiatrist, and his desire to challenge the “doubts” that “have been there for years, piling up steadliy in this dreary [hospital]’ (10). Incredibly interesting are the included stage directions and scenery. Shaffer describes an abstract, unnatural stage, composed of a wooden circle encapsulating a wooden square. Additionally, he adds a separate area for an auxiliary audience, which will face the main theater and as Dysart’s main audience. The effect produced is both sociological and intellectual. The audiences can react to each other and can observe different angles of a rotating stage. This also dehumanizes the characters, making them like props that walk in and out independent of scenery and toward set places for where they will be stored. This enhances the opening scene, along with the rest of the play, as it is made clear that Dysart is telling a story and will act as our narrator. Everything from here is dependent on his point of view.
In this opening scene we are introduced to both Alan Strang a 17 year old and his therapist Martin Dysart. The play opens with Alan and his horse nugget embracing on the stage while Martin reflects on what he sees. When Alan exits Martin has a monologue addressing the problems he sees with his career. He feels horses are such complex creatures and children are even more complicated, yet he wants to handle them as a child psychiatrist. “Yet I handle children’s heads—which I must presume to be more complicated, at least in the area of my chief concern”(page 10). He claims that one case in particular has brought significant doubt to his profession. Something interesting about the playwrights style is the fact that he doesn’t have Alan speak but instead has Martin reflect on what he is seeing on the stage. The playwright also breaks the fourth wall by having Dysart “address both the large audience in the theatre and the smaller one on the stage.”(page 10). There are many questions that arise from the first scene. For example, why does Alan love horses so much and what is he attempting to compensate for? Also it will be interesting to see how Martin fits into the storyline and whether or not he will understand his own reasoning for being a therapist.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia Lambrakis
The first scene is comprised of a monologue from Martin Dysart. He is describing a scene he sees, a boy named Alan Strang embracing his horse, Nugget. He is described as being very tender with with his horse, while the horse is nudging him gently. However, Dysart is questioning the horse’s motives and thoughts. He cannot understand how the horse must feel being chained up: “...the non-stop jerks and jabs that are its daily life- and turn them into grief?” Dysart then turns to the audience, breaking the fourth wall, and reflects upon himself. He is questioning what he truly knows and doesn’t know. He feels lost and his deep, doubtful thoughts of his life are arising. He goes to the audience for answers, yet there are none. The play opens like this to engage the reader and create a deeper connection with Dysart. We don’t yet know what he does with his life or his connection to the boy, but we can feel sympathetic for him as he is feeling lost. Everyone knows how it feels to be scared and confused as Dysart is, making him a relatable character.
ReplyDeleteElla Petreski
Equus opens with Nugget (a horse) and Alan (a human) embracing while Dysart, set apart from them onstage, laments about the fact that he’s “an overworked psychiatrist” who is “lost” and “desperate” (10). Dysart’s words depict his own existential crisis; they don’t explain the curious and hearty horse/human embrace. He is clearly in his own head. “In a way, it has nothing to do with this boy,” he says (10). He’s using this phrase to describe his “chief concern,” though he’s also revealing that it is the horse that should be the focus of the rest of the play, not the boy. Dysart begins by wondering “what desire” of Nugget’s could be “nudging through the metal,” thus immediately attributing human struggles to Nugget (9). This combination of the humanization of horses, as well as the reinforcement of horses as the focal point of the play, sets the stage for the divine power that horses will hold in Alan’s life. Additionally, the fact that Dysart is not perturbed by Alan’s horse-worship acts as an important precursor for the sympathy that he will display towards Alan.
ReplyDelete- Gabi Sussman
Two things strike me as interesting after reading the opening scene. The first is the decision, at least for this version of the text, to include stage production notes from the original production in the stage directions. This includes the staging concept to have the main action take place mostly on the raised square on top of the circle, as well as having raised audience seating onstage against the upstage wall. Apparently the playwright must have liked that director’s interpretation of his work, because from clips of other productions of Equus it is evident that there are completely different stagings of his work. I can only assume that the playwright liked the Brechtian distancing effect created by raising the action on a pedestal and having the audience be within view of the audience. This primes the reader to think more critically about the work on a more conscious level instead of being only emotionally invested. Continuing with the theme of distancing, the choice to have Dysart directly address the audience in various monologues creates a similar kind of distancing effect. By telling the audience that what they are about to see is a story, that encourages the audience to think about what possible moral the story contains or point that Dysart is attempting to get across by telling the story. After all, all stories should have a point to them, right? Right?
ReplyDeleteEthan Karas
The opening scene of the play starts with Alan Strang hugging his horse Nugget tenderly, while the child therapist Dr. Dysart narrates. Something that surprised me was when Dysart started to address the audience and readers of the play after Alan walked off. He turns to the audience and reveals how "a horse's head is finally unknownable to me" (10), as is a child's head. He explains how he feels like he's "wearing that horse's head myself" and how much he relates to it. If this is the case, why does he work with children if they're more complicated? Is this something that'll be revealed at the end?
ReplyDeleteMari Shakishvili
The play begins with Alan Strang embracing Nugget, a horse, while Martin Dysart, set apart, comments on the nature of his personal grief with regard to the strange embrace, likening it to “a necking couple” (9). Dysart is quick to make obvious the “nonsensical” nature of the pair’s embrace, but it only complements his own strange predicament. He humanizes and relates to the horse, his personification of its “desire” coming from a question of its deeper motives. He questions whether it grieves and about what “use” “grief” would be to a horse (10). This introduces his existential struggle, his profession as a psychiatrist, and his desire to challenge the “doubts” that “have been there for years, piling up steadliy in this dreary [hospital]’ (10). Incredibly interesting are the included stage directions and scenery. Shaffer describes an abstract, unnatural stage, composed of a wooden circle encapsulating a wooden square. Additionally, he adds a separate area for an auxiliary audience, which will face the main theater and as Dysart’s main audience. The effect produced is both sociological and intellectual. The audiences can react to each other and can observe different angles of a rotating stage. This also dehumanizes the characters, making them like props that walk in and out independent of scenery and toward set places for where they will be stored. This enhances the opening scene, along with the rest of the play, as it is made clear that Dysart is telling a story and will act as our narrator. Everything from here is dependent on his point of view.
ReplyDelete-Patrick Ortiz