In the following essay, Vandenbroucke declares that Equus is a modern myth that employs "elements of ritual, religion, and ceremony" to "fathom and capture basic truths of man and nature. "

In the essay below, Timm compares Equus to the classical Greek dramas Oedipus and Antigone and to Racine's Phèdre in an attempt to define a modern version of tragedy.

In this review, Kerr praises nearly every aspect of the National Theatre production of Equus. This work, he states, is the "closest I have seen a contemporary play come … to reanimating the spirit of mystery that makes the stage a place of breathless discovery. "

Peter Shaffer's Equus [is] a play about the creation of a Dionysian religion in a highly rational world, a passionate worship that also reflects the Christian world's inability to integrate sexuality and religion. Equus is one of a number of plays by major contemporary playwrights that deal with the place of religion in a seemingly godless world. (p. 418) Peter Shaffer has been, in his major work,… fascinated with the impulse toward faith. For him the adversary of the man of faith is no...

In thex following review, Davies praises the staging and performances of the London production of Equus, but he contends that Shaffer compromised his investigation of "our right to tamper with our fellow-beings in the cause of 'normality ' " by focusing on "a bunch of people already far gone in abnormality. "

Equus debuted 26 July 1973 in a National Theatre production directed by John Dexter at London's Old Vic Theatre. In the following mixed review of the premiere, Wardle finds the play rather calculated and forced.