Word: goldstien
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Onstage nearly every minute of the play, James Goldstien wrestles relentlessly with the role of Dysart. When he has a firm grasp on Dysart, Goldstien is very fine indeed, but when he loses confidence, his performance slips into woeful mediocrity. For much of the play, his stiff gestures and forced, dramatic delivery remove all naturalness from his performance, making him look like someone trying toact. When he addresses the audience--as he does frequently--Goldstien fidgets, never quite knowing what to do with his hands. He ruins some of Dysart's wittiest (and in their wry humor, extremely revealing) lines...
...That Goldstien's talent erupts in Dysart's scenes with his patient is understandable since Jon Magaril's performance as Alan is extraordinary. In the same way that Alan draws in Dysart, Magaril mesmerizes the audience, simultaneously seductive and repulsive. Magaril makes Alan the truly compelling victim of the Modern Age: alienated, practically illiterate, addicted to television. Alan is the perfect Freudian delight (with a twist) who hates his father, loves his mother, and desperately needs something to worship, something to absolve him of his sins in this universe where "God is dead...
...final, striking gesture, the intrepid Pillinger proves that he realizes the seriousness of his task. Goldstien, Magaril, and the highly competent cast that supports them receive no curtain call and the effect is more profound than it first seems. Hours later, the images that linger in your mind are not of smiling actors--fellow students--but of the tortured faces of Equus' desperate souls...
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