Books Like Equus by Peter Shaffer | Suggesting Reading

Equus What Do I Read Next?

Amadeus, often regarded as Shaffer's greatest dramatic achievement. The 1979 play is a probing exploration of the human psyche, centering on the court composer Antonio Salieri and his jealousy for fellow composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is portrayed as a vulgar, self-centered musical genius. The play won the 1980 Antoinette (Tony) Perry Award. In 1984, the film adaptation won Academy Awards for best picture and best screenplay adaptation, which Shaffer composed from his original text.

The Royal Hunt of the Sun, a 1964 play which secured Shaffer's reputation as an accomplished dramatist. The play—which creatively blends ritual, dance, music, and drama—reenacts the sixteenth-century Spanish conquest of the Incan empire. Like Equus and Amadeus, this play employs two opposing central characters to create not only dramatic tension but also a philosophical dialectic on central themes.

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey (Viking, 1962). Set in a...
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