Peter Shaffer – Ian Louis Harris

Equus by Peter Shaffer, Menier Chocolate Factory, 16 May 2026

A very kind invitation from Claudia Lesley, who had scored a clutch of excellent seats for this production early in the run and thought of us. It was a great opportunity for Janie to met up with her old school pals, Claudia and Anthea. Plus what looked to be a very promising production of Equus, a play that I had studied at school but, apart from the movie version, had never seen.

Janie and I are both partial to a bit of Shaffer too. I had read or seen (or both) most of his oeuvre. Actually one of Janie’s and my early dates was a Shaffer:

The Gift Of The Gorgon by Peter Shaffer, The Pit, 12 December 1992

Janie even (perhaps inadvertently) forgave Shaffer for his proclivity for theatrical dames who are not Janie’s favourites. Judy (e.g. Gift Of the Gorgon) and Maggie (in several Shaffers throughout my life, starting with The Public Eye and more recently Lettice and Lovage, which I saw back in the day).

Lettice And Lovage by Peter Shaffer, Globe Theatre, 30 January 1988

Lindsay Posner is a superb director who possibly wanted to continue the family (if not stage dame) tradition for Shaffer plays, by choosing Toby Stephens (Dame Maggie’s son) to play Martin Dysart, the psychiatrist. Great choice. Toby Stephens absolutely smashed it in that role.

Noah Valentine was excellent as the troubled boy. Indeed the whole cast was excellent.

Equus is a long play and the Menier has a bum-numbing seating, but somehow this didn’t seem to matter, as the production was so good, the time seemed to fly by without physical discomfort for us. For the actors, possibly more discomfort, as it was a very well-choreographed production that surely required great feats of strength and dexterity at times, especially from the ensemble “horses”.

This link should find on-line reviewed for this production until the end of the world, if not longer.

Before the show, Janie and I had a hair-raising drive across London with multiple demonstrations and road-blockages in place. I had strategically worked out a route, which worked well, but hadn’t counted on unscheduled (and unconnected) road closures nearer to the theatre blocking off my chosen parking places.

Still, we got to Borough Market on time for a pre-theatre supper of fish at Fish!, with Claudia and Anthea, which was a very pleasant way to start the evening. Not our usual way round for theatre (eating before rather than after) but the only sensible way to have done this one.

Sing To Me Through Open Windows by Arthur Kopit & The Private Ear by Peter Shaffer, Orange Tree Theatre, 13 June 2009

In the midst of all those ICC World T20 cricket double bills (two visits to Lord’s that week and another visit the next day lined up)…

…ironically, a double header at The Orange Tree.

Here is a link to the Orange Tree stub for the two productions.

I was familiar with the Shaffer, having read it (I think I might also have seen a TV film version of it), but I was not at all familiar with the Kopit.

Frankly, I could have done without the Kopit. It all felt so obscure I’m not sure I can even describe it to you. Beckett with even less action?

Had it been up to Daisy and/or had I not been familiar with the Shaffer, we might have left at half time and taken our Spanish meal at Don Fernando early. But I really wanted to see the Shaffer and we both agreed afterwards that the Shaffer had been well worth the wait.

John Thaxter in British Theatre Guide would have preferred to have seen The Private Ear paired with Shaffer’s companion short, The Public Eye;
Timothy Ramsden at Reviewsgate liked both plays.

I can’t find reviews by the usual suspects for this double bill. Perhaps Michael Billington was spending too much time at Lord’s and not enough time at the theatre that week. Or perhaps my web searching isn’t up to it for double bills.

The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard & Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, Richmond Theatre, 11 April 1998

Whose brilliant idea was it to pair The Real Inspector Hound with Black Comedy? Well, if I’m not totally mistaken The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School did so back in the mid 1970s. It worked well then (I shall write up The Bear Pit production in the fullness of time) and it worked well nearly 25 years later, in the late 1990s, too.

Superb evening…

…was my take on it in my log. How could it not be – what a cast! Desmond Barrit, David Tennant, Nichola McAuliffe, Sara Crowe, Anna Chancellor…and Greg Doran directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

We saw a preview at Richmond the week before the show opened at The Comedy Theatre.

Nicholas de Jongh voted it “good” in The Standard:

Real Inspector Black Comedy de Jongh Standard 23 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian was very keen on it:

Real Inspector Black Comedy Guardian Billington 23 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While The Independent previewed the event the morning after our visit wondering, over three pages, whose brilliant idea it was to pair these two short plays? (The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School. Do you arts journos know nothing?)

Hound Black Indy Butler 1 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Hound Black Indy Butler 2 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Hound Black Indy Butler 3 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Gift Of The Gorgon by Peter Shaffer, The Pit, 12 December 1992

Janie and I saw a preview of this one and thought it was absoutely great. Janie has since formed an aversion to Dame Judy Dench…or perhaps Janie liked this one despite Judy.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from The Observer:

Gift of the Gorgon Coveney Sun, Dec 20, 1992 – 42 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michel Billington’s glowing review:

Gift Of teh Gorgon Billington Fri, Dec 18, 1992 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was less keen – click here.

Lettice And Lovage by Peter Shaffer, Globe Theatre, 30 January 1988

I’ve either mislaid or never had the programme for this one, sadly, so I needed to do a bit of on-line searching.

The log makes it clear that i went to see this play with Bobbie and that we both thought it was “really good”.

I do remember enjoying it and I especially remember an early scene in which Maggie Smith, as a tour guide, starts making up the history when her memory fails her and/or the reality doesn’t seem interesting enough.

These days I quite often hear the Lord’s tour guides explaining the history of real tennis to a tour group while I play. Sometimes they are pretty accurate and sometimes they indeed dwell into fiction. On one recent occasion (February 2019) they told the group that the charming woman I was playing against, whose handicap is some 10 points less impressive than my modest handicap, is a former open champion and one of the finest players in the world. We both lifted our performances a little to try and impress.

“Fantasy floods in where fact leaves a vacuum”, as Lettice puts it in the play, Lettice and Lovage, which is the very thing I am digressing away from writing about here.

Apparently it opened in October 1987 so we got in fairly early in its long West End run. It was at the Globe Theatre – i.e. the West End Globe, not the Shakespeare facsimile thing that didn’t yet exist in 1988…obvs.

By all accounts it was a big hit – hence the long run and subsequent Broadway run too.

Maggie Smith was terrific as was Margaret Tyzack as her foil/nemesis. I don’t in truth remember what the supporting cast was like – probably just fine. Michael Blakemore directed it, which is usually a very good sign.

By all accounts, including his own, Shaffer wrote the Lettice part with Maggie Smith in mind, which makes sense:

I recall that the play was both funny and thought-provoking about issues of conservation, history and the grey areas between historical fact and fiction.

Here is the Theatricalia entry on the Globe production.

There is an excellent piece about the play/production by C. J. Gianakaris on JStor.org – click here.

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review: