Equus, Theatre Royal, Brighton, until Saturday

4:49pm Tuesday 22nd April 2008

"Psychiatrists can take away passion, but they can't create it," says Dr Martin Dysart.

The opposite must apply to playwright Peter Shaffer, whose epic Equus rationalises the tide of unnatural desire that provoked an act of seemingly mindless savagery.

But Shaffer was not the only force at work here. John Napier's clever set and glorious wire-sculpted horse heads, and David Hersey's fantastically apposite lighting all contribute to this evocative and thought- provoking production.

Simon Callow as Dr Martin Sysart postulates with such intense feeling that his description of Dysart's sterile home-life fails to ring true, while Helen Anderson, as troubled teen Alan Strang's mother, is notable for her precisely controlled, powerful description of how the devil has got into her little boy.

This leaves a dilemma. Casting the central role of Alan Strang could go either way. Either choose someone who exudes charisma and angst or opt for an actor whose ordinariness brings a fresh chill.

Alfie Allen's most notable recent TV appearance was in Casualty 1907, in which he did very well. The same is true of his competent, but not dazzling, Alan Strang.

I like to think this was a deliberate ploy on director Thea Sharrock's part, as to over-dramatise the character would imply maniacal behaviour is confined to those who can express their feelings, when it's probably most dangerous in the hands of those who, like Allen's Strang, simply can't.

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