Equus

“The horses, by the way, are simply tall men in tracksuits. On their feet are strutted hooves about 4 inches high. Over their heads are airy, stylized masks of interlaced leather and silver wire. These possess such hieratic dignity and beauty that a special citation should be awarded to Scenery Designer and Costumier John Napier.”

T E Kalem, Time Magazine

4th November 1974

A venture down Memory Lane

"It is a rare experience for any practitioner to return to a modern play - even rarer to be given the opportunity to revisit past triumphs. For 1973 - read 2007 - and John Napier is back in the thick of Equus rehearsals, supervising the design for this eagerly-awaited production."

A venture down Memory Lane

"It is a rare experience for any practitioner to return to a modern play - even rarer to be given the opportunity to revisit past triumphs. For 1973 - read 2007 - and John Napier is back in the thick of Equus rehearsals, supervising the design for this eagerly-awaited production."

"The invitation to venture down Memory Lane came as a pleasant surprise", he says. "I was on holiday in Greece and I read in the newspaper that Equus was coming back to the West End. I thought to myself - I wonder how they're going to do it. I'd ruled myself out of the running, believing that they's ask a younger designer and so I was both surprised and delighted - and intrigued when I was approached to work on the show. Then came the inevitable question. Do they want me to do it exactly as I did it before? Or are we going on a new journey of discovery? For me, thankfully, it's been the latter."

John Napier, in conversation with Al Senter