Adrian Buckle is not exactly new to controversy. In his own words, the 35-year-old drama teacher and founder of Unifaun Productions has already “challenged everything” on the local stage.
“This time last year, we had explicit sex on stage,” he points out with reference to Some Explicit Polaroids: Mark Ravenhill’s punchy satire about love, violence and politics in 1990s Britain. “With ‘Paul’, on the other hand, we challenged some basic notions about religion, including central Christian beliefs such as the Resurrection…”
Equus, on the other hand, represents a rare opportunity for Adrian to try his hand at a classic of the contemporary stage. And what better play to stir up a little local controversy, than Peter Schaffer’s no-holds-barred exploration of the darker side of human sexuality?
Notorious for over three decades, Equus probes the sinister pathology that drives 17-year-old Alan Strang (played by Sean Buhagiar) to commit a bizarre and inexplicable crime: blinding six horses with a hoof-pick. Written at a time when clinical psychology was still in its infancy – and television had yet to assume the centrality it enjoys today – Schaffer’s play shocked audiences with its frank portrayal of the murky hinterland that separates religious fanaticism from its closest relative, sexual depravity.
But for all its intensely Freudian overtones, Equus made headlines largely on the strength of its indulgence in nudity on stage: unheard of in the UK in 1973, and not exactly commonplace in Malta more than three decades later.
Adrian, however, cautions against attaching too much importance to the nudity element.
“That scene cannot be left out, that much is certain,” he explains over a coffee at the St James Cavalier cafeteria, while waiting for his actors to turn up for a rehearsal. “But it is only five minutes out of a total of around two and a half hours. Besides, the play is not just about a boy getting naked with horses. It is also about a psychiatrist who is forced to confront his inner demons; about the clash between two rights (as opposed to between a right and a wrong)…”
Besides, Equus had already caused a furore when it was first produced in Malta in the early 1980s… even though back then, the “nude” scenes were actually played out wearing a tanga. Unifaun’s production, on the other hand, promises audiences the Full Monty. Were there any objections by the censorship board?
Adrian shakes his head in ill-disguised disappointment. “Not really, no. Even with Some Explicit Polaroids, the censors were more accommodating than we expected.”
That said, Adrian recalls immense objections to ‘Paul’: “First they wanted us to cut out an entire scene, and we refused. Then they asked us to remove a paragraph, and still we refused. In the end they asked us to remove a single word. On that, we compromised…”
Interestingly enough, the word to cause such consternation also involved a large farmyard animal; this time, a cow. What made it controversial was the context… the actual line being “That cow of a woman”, with reference to the Blessed Virgin.
Again, though, Adrian argues that too much emphasis on controversy alone will detract from the play’s overall impact. “The real Paul was a huge influence on our entire way of thinking. So much of European ideology is based on his teachings. The important thing about the play was that it made people think, and revisit their own notions of the man and what he represents.”
Regardless of whether you agree with the play’s central motif, Adrian continues, the simple fact that it makes one question his own preconceived notions is in itself healthy. “If you don’t challenge values, they eventually become stale. This in fact is one of the problems with the Church at the moment…”
On the subject of problems, Adrian Buckle admits that the biggest one facing his current production was the casting. Apart from requiring exceptional talent and experience for its main roles, Dr Drysart and magistrate Heather Salomon – both qualities being provided in abundance by stage veterans Alan Paris and Pia Zammit respectively – Equus also places exacting demands on its main protagonist.
“It was difficult to find the right boy to play Alan Strang,” Adrian admits. “Very difficult. But we were lucky to find an ideal actor in Sean Buhagiar: someone who is courageous, talented and who can take direction well…”
Entering on her cue, director Marcelle Theuma suddenly appears from out of the shadows with inauspicious tidings: rehearsals, which were supposed to begin five minutes earlier, have yet to start because one of the actors has not yet shown up.
As we wend our way through the bowels of the St James’ Cavalier towards the rehearsal room, the sounds of power-tools emanate from the theatre itself, where Pierre Portelli’s multi-faceted set is being painstakingly assembled.
En route, I ask Adrian if he is comfortable working in a theatre which – no offence to its local aficionados – has always struck me as though it were an afterthought, a last-minute addition to a otherwise theatre-less Centre for Creativity.
Adrian nods vigorously. “With a play like Equus you absolutely need a theatre like St James. It is intimate and personal, and you need both qualities for a play like this… I see it working better here than anywhere else.”
Before parting company I ask Adrian Buckle what sort of reaction he expects from his audience.
“It is hard to say. Each play creates its own audience. Sales for Equus have so far been encouraging, but it’s early to say how thing will go. With Pillowman (2005), for instance, we had to increase nights to accommodate the demand… in fact, we eventually stopped only because of CHOGM. But then, with our next production, Jim Cartwright’s Two, some 75 per cent of our audience turned out to be tourists. You can never really tell…”

EQUUS

Author: Peter Schaffer (1973)
Director: Marcelle Theuma
Cast: Alan Paris, Sean Buhagiar, Pia Zammit, Colin Willis, Lilian Pace, Jo Caruana, Jean Pierre Agius, Jovan Pisani, Clayton Camilleri, Jan Zammit and Valerie Blow.
Venue: St James Cavalier
Dates: 2,3,4 and 9,10,11 November
Tickets: 2122 3200, 2122 3216; boxoffice@sjcav.org.
Price: Lm6.50