SOURCE: "A Psychiatric Detective Story of Infinite Skill," in The New York Times, 2 September 1973, Section 2, pp. 1, 3.

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. "

A true myth is a true bind. All the facts are in, and there is no way out. Oedipus, an honorable man, can do whatever he likes to avoid fulfilling the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, but he will kill his father and marry his mother. We give assent to the un-resolvable, see that it is perfectly proportioned, perfectly just, perfectly terrifying.

If there is one thing more than another that a contemporary playwright would like to do, it is to make...