Theatre / Equus by Peter Shaffer, directed by Anne Somes. At ACT Hub, Kingston, until November 22. Reviewed by ALANNA MACLEAN.

Equus is a hell of a play. A boy inexplicably blinds six horses. A psychiatrist sets out to find out why.

Alan Strang (Jack Shanahan) is being treated by psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Arran McKenna) who is trying to find a way of understanding what has happened. The play is anchored by what is Dysart’s massive ongoing monologue, and the actor does  not leave the stage, a feat McKenna accomplishes with perception and energy.

Upstage on a tight multilevel set (design Cate Clelland) sit the six horses that Alan will blind, moodily awaiting their moments. At the sides sit other characters in the story.

Alan’s tense parents, well delineated by Janie Lawson as mother Dora and Bruce Hardie as father Frank give some clues as to Alan’s nature. Hardie also does a good double as Harry, the matter-of-fact horseman in charge of the stables to which Alan is fatefully sent.

A no-nonsense nurse (Caitlin Bissett) reminds that he is now in a hospital and Crystal Mahon in a sympathetic performance as the magistrate Hester stands for the legal aspects of his case.

Lily Welling is luminous and sensible as Jill, the young stable worker who looks for a while as if she is someone who can lead him along a normal human path.

Anne Somes’ mature production handles the sexuality and nudity with sensitivity.

The six horses are led powerfully by Sam Thompson as the towering Nugget. It’s somehow illuminating when this group of actors double as the surly cinema audience at a Swedish porn film, all huddled in raincoats.

Central to the whole is Jack Shanahan’s excellent performance as the spikey Alan, an intense boy driven by a secret worship. McKenna’s quiet Dysart probes for clues but is, in the end, left looking desperately for meaning in his own constrained marriage and life.

It’s not an easy play to experience but it’s very well worth a trip to the Hub to see it in a fine and thoughtful production.