Self-consciously staging itself in the psychotherapy sessions of a disturbed young man Peter Shaffer&s Equus is a shocking exploration of the limits of faith of the intersecting worlds of the sacred & profane & of the paltry value of a &mundane& life published in Penguin Modern Classics When a deranged boy Alan Strang blinds six horses with a metal spike he is sentenced to psychiatric treatment Dr Dysart is the man given the task of uncovering what happened the night Strang committed his crime but in doing so will open up his own wounds Dysart struggles in secret to define sanity to justify his marriage to account for his career & finds himself questioning the &normality& of his way of life Ultimately he must ask himself is it patient or psychiatrist whose life is being laid bare? The most shocking play of its day Equus uses an act of violence to explore faith insanity & how the materialism of modern life can destroy humanity&s capacity for pain & passion Peter Shaffer (b 1926) born in Liverpool is an English playwright Among his plays are The Salt Land (1954) Equus (1973) which won Shaffer the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle Award & Amadeus (1979) which won the Evening Standard Drama Award & the Theatre Critics Award for the London production as well as being adapted into a 1984 film starring F Murray Abraham & Simon Callow If you enjoyed Equus you might like Tennessee Williams&s A Streetcar Named Desire also available in Penguin Modern Classics & Sensationally good& Guardian&A very important play& The New York Times