THEATRE PREVIEW

OCTOBER 2026 | Volume 268

 

“WHAT DO YOU WORSHIP?”  PETER SHAFFER’S PLAY EQUUS RETURNS

Skycorner & Tygerish spearhead a collective of Vancouver artists to mount Peter Shaffer's searing modern classic for an exclusive six-performance engagement at Performance Works on Granville Island, November 18–22, 2026.

More than two decades after Equus enthralled Vancouver and swept six major categories at the 2004 Jessie Awards, a formidable troop of homegrown artists has converged around Shaffer’s landmark work—uniting their respective disciplines to return it to the city and confront a new generation with its still-unsettled provocations.

Southern England. 1973. Alan Strang, 17, has blinded six horses. Psychiatrist Martin Dysart is tasked with discovering why. But the deeper Dysart pursues an answer, the further this case draws him beyond the boy—and the reach of diagnosis itself. Equus thrusts its audience into the examination room, where psychological experience takes physical form. Memories materialize, encounters erupt, and past and present are scrutinized in equal measure. 

Written in 1973, Equus captures a society only half a century removed from our own—inviting comparison between what has changed and what may remain. The lines of social acceptance have shifted considerably since Shaffer wrote the play. Our impulse to draw them has proved harder to shake.

Living as a gay man in postwar Britain, Shaffer was no stranger to the dogma behind such judgments. Equus tests that impulse on both sides of the doctor-patient divide. What must we destroy in the name of “normal”—and might what we sacrifice be just as human, just as vital, as what remains?

Such material has drawn some of theatre's most distinguished artists and companies to Equus for more than half a century. A fixture of both Broadway and the West End, its Broadway debut won Tonys for Best Play and Best Direction, with the role of Dysart passing through the hands of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Perkins and Richard Burton. Peter Firth originated Alan Strang on Broadway; more than three decades later, Daniel Radcliffe inherited the role in the famed 2008 revival. 

Part of that allure lies in material that has never made itself comfortable. Equus has never been a stranger to controversy—and time has done little to tame it. Among its most notorious elements is its use of onstage nudity, a detail that continues to provoke an immediate reaction even in an age when virtually any image is available at the touch of a screen.

For Blake Williams, who takes on the dual capacity of playing Alan Strang while also producing the revival, the persistence of that reaction has become a fascination in itself. “At the heart of it all—there’s this rather endearing irony,” says Williams. “So much of modern life favors convenience over connection, yet we still see something irreplaceable in the act of witnessing another person’s vulnerability firsthand. There’s a sense—an instinct—that an exchange is taking place, and it’s one we still seem to value, even desire.”

Equus takes the stage at Performance Works on Granville Island for an exclusive six-performance engagement, November 18–22, 2026.

EQUUS by Peter Shaffer
Presented by Skycorner and Tygerish Productions
Performance Works | Granville Island, Vancouver
November 18–22, 2026 | Six performances

TICKETS
Box Office / Ticket Link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/equusvancouver

FOLLOW THE PRODUCTION
Instagram: @javelinprods
Facebook: @Equusvancouver
Landing Page: https://itstime.subscribepage.io/

CAST
Dr. Martin Dysart – Eric Breker
Alan Strang – Blake Williams
Dora Strang/Nurse – Anita Wittenberg
Frank Strang/Harry Dalton – Ian Farthing
Hesther Saloman/Nurse -- P. Lynn Johnson
Jill Mason/Nurse – Yasmine Ross
Nugget/Horseman – Connor Anthony                                                               

CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM
Director — Rick Tae
Producer – Blake Williams
Designer –Projection Designer -- Saadat Pajouh                                                                   
Composer/Sound Designer - Heath Whitelock
Costume Designer – Amber Smith
Lighting/Set Designer -- Sam Cheng
Stage Manager – Cassidy Flyman
Technical Director – Phillip Miguel

 

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