Westminster’s ‘Equus’ hobbles through

In England during the late 1960s, a startling and horrific crime occurred — against a small herd of horses; each one had been blinded with a spike by a 17-year-old boy. This one detail of the crime inspired playwright Peter Shaffer to construct a personal interpretation of events leading to the vicious attack.

Shaffer, who had been in his 40s when he wrote Equus, explores the many conflicts of an emotionally stunted adolescent boy. Using a dichotomy of sex and religion, Shaffer stews an unsettling, and off-the-mark, account of events, from sacrificial temptations to moral infringements and sexuality.

The Westminster Players have timidly staged the controversial play. It just feels so Utahn, which weakens its intensity, and curtails its provocative content, in turn minimizes Shaffer’s already muddled creative intentions.

Alan Strang, the 17-year-old character, is overly skittish (to the point it’s almost comedic) and one-dimensional. It’s difficult to believe his inner turmoil. Wyatt McNeilportrays Alan with doughy-eyed naivete and a sense of urgency, though the twitchiness is a little too erratic.

Martin Dysart (Conner Montgomery), a child psychiatrist, is outspoken and complains profusely about his “professional menopause” and his unattentive wife. His own skeletons outweigh his helping the boy, so the final outcome seems implausible. Montgomery’s performance is jarring, at best, as he spouts textbook psychiatry as fervently as a TV evangelist; and he does it at warp speed, leaving you whirling in frustration.

Kelly Finley Davis and Jared Thomson, as Alan’s parents, both play their parts as if the world is about to end, which apparently is a directive — and Annie Louise Brings, who plays the hospital’s magistrate, stiffly delivers her lines like a soldier addressing a superior officer.

Hailey Henderson, on the other hand, as Jill, the fair stable hand who has feelings for Alan, is the most believable and honestly, tolerable. But her appearance on stage is too limited to truly enjoy her.

To be fair, and clear, the Westminster cast, do exactly as they are directed (by Michael Vought), with professionalism and as much credibility as their characters allow.

It’s unfortunate, too, that even the visual aspect of the show is lost in translation. Thin, copper-wired horse heads, like oddly-shaped flimsy “garden ornaments you hang from a tree branch to ward off magpies” (as my friend so aptly describes them), with jeweled eyes emasculate the horse’s stunning fortitude. A stark, uninspired set is only more disenchanting by the sheer curtain, used ostensibly to obstruct the grueling (and yes, nude) final moments.

Though it’s over two hours in length, the production feels rushed and robotic, and the sensuality of the theme is muted, contrived (unless, of course, you take into consideration, the horses’ “female quasi-orgasmic moaning,” as my friend so adequately describes it.).

Equus runs through April 2, Courage Theatre, Westminster College. Tickets $10, 801-832-2457.