madego's photoblog

Peter Shaffer’s Equus, The Players Workshop (2017), The Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me.

So, the Saul Bass effect...Saul Bass is this incredible graphic Artist who did a lot of Alfred Hitchcock’s main title sequences - and here I am particularly inspired by his work on “Psycho” and “The Man With The Golden Arm”. You can check those out on YouTube.

From top: - Iyepha Biggot as “Jill Mason”, Kemlon Nero as “Hester Saloman”, Makesi Algernon as “Alan Strang” (flanked by Kameel Ali as “Nugget” and Andrew Hall as “The Horseman”), and finally...the “Horses” - left to right (standing) Isaac Moses, Kameel, Michaelo Richardson, (kneeling) JhaWhan Thomas, Andrew and Johnathan Samuel.

Horse Heads courtesy K2K (Kathy and Karen Norman).

Peter Shaffer’s Equus, The Players Workshop (2017), The Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me.

Because the play premiered in 1973, I wanted the color palette to reflect that era...cinematically speaking (for some reason the majority of films and TV shows from the 70s used a lot of browns - my least favorite color!) and I also wanted to give the audience a feel for what it would have been like to be pulled back in time to attend an early performance of the play. At no time, however, do we say that the play is set in ‘73, but I certainly hope we achieved that nebulous/theatrical 70s feel and texture.

Clockwise from top: - Avielle McCarthy as “The Nurse”, Keino Swamber as “The Stable Owner” and Michael Cherrie as “Dr. Martin Dysart”.

Peter Shaffer’s Equus, The Players Workshop (2017), The Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me.

The Equus design owes a lot to the work of the legendary graphic artist Saul Bass. It also borrows from imagery psychological tests (including the Rorschach Test) with its repeated pattern structures, and variations on the hypnotic wheel.

From top to bottom: - Andrew Hall as “The Horseman”, Cecilia Salazar as “Dora Strang” and Wayne Lee-Sing as “Frank Strang”.

World Down Syndrome Day 2018…“Socks have been used as the symbol because chromosomes are shaped “like socks” and people with Down’s syndrome are born with an extra one.”

Publicity material from The Players Workshop recent production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me.

More from The Players Workshop 2017 production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me with Lighting by Benny Gomes.

From The Players Workshop 2017 production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me with Lighting by Benny Gomes.

The Cast of The Players Workshop 2017 production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. Photography by Stefan Simmons.

Clockwise from top left: - Kemlon Nero as the Magistrate “Hester Saloman” (Makeup by Aurora Tardieu); Andrew Hall as “The Horseman”; Cecilia Salazar as the Mother “Dora Strang” (Makeup by Aurora Tardieu); Keino Swamber as the Stable-Owner “Dalton”; Iyepha Biggot as “Jill” (Makeup by Umeko Henderson); Wayne Lee-Sing as the Father “Frank Strang”; Avielle McCarthy as “The Nurse” (Makeup by Umeko Henderson); Michael Cherrie as “Dr. Martin Dysart” and Makesi Algernon as “Alan Strang” (center).

Four of the “Horses” featured in The Players Workshop 2017 production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. From top to bottom: - Kameel Ali (who played lead horse “Nugget”), Andrew Hall (who also played “The Horseman”), Johnathan Samuel and Michaelo Richardson.

This production was Directed and Designed by me.

From The Players Workshop 2017 production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, the Little Carib Theatre, Trinidad. Directed and Designed by me with Lighting by Benny Gomes.