A new version of Peter Shaffer’s Equus has just opened in London and there was an interesting discussion about the role of psychiatry and mental illness in the play on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, which you can hear as a realaudio stream.
Equus is both a coming-of-age play about a mentally disturbed young man, and a detective story, as the psychiatrist tries to work out what led the young man to blind several horses.
It’s incredibly powerful, both in its content and staging, and was written after Shaffer heard of a case where a boy seemed to senseless attack a number of horses and wondered how someone might get to that point in their life.
The realaudio archive of Front Row only stays online for a week, so will only be available for five days or so more days. Catch it while you can!
The discussion is in the first 10 minutes of the programme.
realaudio of Front Row.
Link to Wikipedia page on Equus.
Link to website of London production of Equus.
Mind Hacks 
Amazing play!