By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 9 May (matinee), opens 18 May and runs through 4 July 2026 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Inside No 9 and Waterloo Road‘s Noah Valentine follows in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe in baring all as troubled 17-year-old Alan Strang who is blinding horses.

• Read on for reasons including how this version is so strong we do expect it to transfer to the West End

Toby Stephens is better than we’ve ever seen him before as child psychiatrist Martin Dysart who tries to fully understand Alan so he can be treated.

We’re sitting in the front row at this intimate venue and cast members including Amanda Abbington (The Unfriend, Criterion) as a kindly magistrate urging Dysart to save Alan from jail join us in our seats waiting their turn to either appear in the action or shout asides from the crowd.

Valentine’s Alan is a twitching mix of teenage male rage, rampant testosterones and an inability to express himself which will be familiar to viewers of Netflix’s recent Adolescence which is nominated for so many awards at today’s TV BAFTAs.

The youngster is part of a dysfunctional family which sees his father played by Colin Mace and mother by Emma Cunniffe, both equally strong, disagree over her religious convictions and ban Alan from watching TV.

When Stephens’ excellent questioning Dysart 1st encounters Alan he finds him speaking in only advertising jingles from TV and quoting the father he clearly despises.

Dysart is having his own existential crisis and questioning the work he does and to what extent he is aiding those who look to him for help.

Director Lindsay Posner (The Holy Rosenbergs, Menier) gives us a dark version of this 1973 play by Peter Shaffer which casts muscular bare chested young men working together as part of the ensemble to recreate the physicality of the horses Alan is so obsessed by.

Equus is a bleak, heavy hitting play with themes of religion and hope and belief that you don’t see very often nowadays.

It’s notorious for its full-frontal male nudity which is important to illustrate how sexuality is so central to the jumbled mind of our young protagonist.

This version is so strong we do expect it to transfer to the West End but do seek it out at this intimate venue if you possibly can.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Menier Chocolate Factory Tickets
• Have you seen a Menier Chocolate Factory show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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