Equus Contents
- Act One Scene One
- Act One Scene Two
- Act One Scene Three
- Act One Scene Four
- Act One Scene Five
- Act One Scene Six
- Act One Scene Seven
- Act One Scene Eight
- Act One Scene Nine
- Act One Scene Ten
- Act One Scene Eleven
- Act One Scene Twelve
- Act One Scene Thirteen
- Act One Scene Fourteen
- Act One Scene Fifteen
- Act One Scene Sixteen
- Act One Scene Seventeen
- Act One Scene Eighteen
- Act One Scene Nineteen
- Act One Scene Twenty
- Act One Scene Twenty-one
- Act Two Scene Twenty-two
- Act Two Scene Twenty-three
- Act Two Scene Twenty-four
- Act Two Scene Twenty-five
- Act Two Scene Twenty-six
- Act Two Scene Twenty-seven
- Act Two Scene Twenty-eight
- Act Two Scene Twenty-nine
- Act Two Scene Thirty
- Act Two Scene Thirty-one
- Act Two Scene Thirty-two
- Act Two Scene Thirty-three
- Act Two Scene Thirty-four
- Act Two Scene Thirty-five
Equus Timeline
| Year | Historical | Literary | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 |
General Strike Television first demonstrated by John Logie Baird; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) established |
T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom | Peter Shaffer born 15th May, Liverpool, alongside identical twin Anthony |
| 1927 |
Trade Disputes Act makes general strikes illegal Charles Lindbergh, first solo transatlantic flight German financial and economic crisis Rise of Stalin in USSR |
Graves and Riding's A Survey of Modernist Poetry | |
| 1928 |
Universal suffrage for men and women Minimum voting age for women in Britain reduced to twenty-one from thirty years Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin (fully exploited from 1940) First films with sound in Britain |
Blunden's Undertones of War Huxley's Point Counter Point Isherwood's All the Conspirators |
|
| 1929 |
General election returns minority Labour government; Margaret Bondfield becomes first woman Cabinet member Wall Street Crash and start of international economic depression Margaret Bondfield becomes first woman Cabinet member |
Graves' Goodbye to All That Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms Priestley's The Good Companions Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (film version, 1930) |
|
| 1930 |
Jet engine invented 11th May: Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to complete a solo flight from England to Australia The Great Depression Nazis begin rise to power in Germany Foundation of the Nation of Islam (black national separatist organisation) |
Blunden's Collected Poems Coward's Private Lives Faulkner's As I Lay Dying Maugham's Cakes and Ale |
|
| 1931 | Woolf's The Waves | ||
| 1932 |
Hunger marches in Britain British Union of Fascists formed |
Huxley's Brave New World Eliot's Sweeney Agonistes |
|
| 1933 | Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany |
Auden's The Dance of Death Orwell's Down and Out in London and Paris |
|
| 1934 |
British Union of Fascists addressed by Oswald Mosley Adolf Hitler becomes Führer |
John Masefield becomes Poet Laureate James' The Art of the Novel Pound's Make it New Priestley's English Journey |
|
| 1935 |
Radar & nylon invented Italy invades Ethiopia |
Launch of first Penguin paperbacks | |
| 1936 |
Death of George V Accession, then abdication of Edward VIII Spanish Civil war begins Jarrow March of the unemployed Accession of George VI |
Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying Thomas' 25 Poems |
The Shaffer family move to London and the brothers attend St Paul’s School |
| 1937 |
British policy of appeasement towards Italy and Germany Mass Observation Project starts |
Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier Priestley's Time and the Conway's Woolf's The Years Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston |
|
| 1938 |
Munich agreement with Hitler Supreme Court rules Missouri must provide access to public schooling for blacks as well as whites |
Waugh's Scoop Day-Lewis' Overtures to a Death Greene's Brighton Rock |
|
| 1939 |
End of Spanish Civil War Start of the Second World War Evacuation of children from London |
Thomas' Twenty-Six Poems Eliot's The Family Reunion Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin Joyce's Finnegan's wake Orwell's Coming up for Air Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath |
|
| 1940 |
Churchill becomes Prime Minister Evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk Start of the Blitz |
Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog Greene's The Power and the Glory |
|
| 1941 |
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour USA declares war on Germany and Italy |
Coward's Blithe Spirit Eliot's Little Gidding |
|
| 1942 | US involvement in Second World War | ||
| 1944 |
D-Day Landings in Normandy Butler Education Act |
Eliot's Four Quartets | |
| 1945 |
Yalta Conference Death of Hitler USA drops nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders End of Second World War Clement Atlee becomes Labour Prime Minister |
Mitford's The Pursuit of Love Orwell's Animal Farm Waugh's Brideshead Revisited Priestley's An Inspector Calls |
|
| 1947 |
Independence of India and Pakistan The UK school leaving age is raised to 15 Princess Elizabeth – later Queen – marries the Duke of Edinburgh |
Compton-Burnett's Manservant and Maidservant The Diary of Anne Frank is published The Maids, Jean Genet All My Sons, Arthur Miller A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams |
A play written by Shaffer is performed on the radio |
| 1948 |
British Citizenship Act gives Commonwealth citizens subject status Policy of apartheid started in South Africa State of Israel founded |
Waugh's Brideshead Revisited Leavis' The Great Tradition |
|
| 1949 |
Orwell's 1984 Miller's Death of a Salesman The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir |
||
| 1950 | Korean War begins |
Greene's The Third Man Lessing's The Grass is Singing |
|
| 1951 |
Festival of Britain Churchill becomes Conservative Prime Minister Spies Burgess and Maclean defect to USSR |
Larkin's Poems Manning's School for Love |
|
| 1952 |
George VI dies Accession of Elizabeth II Britain produces an atomic bomb |
Christie's The Mousetrap Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea Thomas' Collected Poems |
|
| 1953 |
Death of Stalin Coronation of Elizabeth II Ascent of Everest |
Hartley's The Go-Between Fleming's Casino Royale Miller's The Crucible |
|
| 1954 |
End of post-war food rationing US Supreme Court declares racially segregated education is unconstitutional |
Amis' Lucky Jim Rattigan's Separate Tables Golding's Lord of the Flies Thomas' Under Milk Wood |
|
| 1955 | Rosa Parks, Civil Rights activist in USA, refuses to give up her seat on a bus | Beckett's Waiting for Godot | |
| 1956 |
Suez Crisis Russian invasion of Hungary Rosa Parks defies bus segregation in Montgomery Alabama |
Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Osborne's Look Back in Anger Wilson's Anglo-Saxon Attitudes Beckett, Waiting for Godot |
|
| 1957 |
Wolfenden Report on Prostitution and Homosexuality Independence of Ghana Obscene Publications Act Martin Luther King elected President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference |
Larkin's A Girl in Winter Hughes' The Hawk in the Rain Murdoch's The Sandcastle MacInnes' City of Spades Naipaul's The Mystic Masseur Osborne's The Entertainer |
|
| 1958 |
Notting Hill race riots Aden state of emergency CND founded |
Achebe's Things Fall Apart Pinter's The Birthday Party Delaney's A Taste of Honey Bates' The Darling Buds of May Murdoch's The Bell Silitoe's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Betjeman's Collected Poems |
Shaffer’s first stage play, Five Finger Exercise, is performed in London |
| 1959 |
First section of M1 motorway opened State of emergency in Kenya |
Wesker's Roots Lee's Cider with Rosie Braithwaite's To Sir with Love Waterhouse's Billy Liar Arden's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance Silitoe's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansbury |
|
| 1960 |
John F. Kennedy wins US election CND demonstrations in Trafalgar Square Penguin wins the right to publish D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover |
Banks' The L Shaped Room Lessing's In Pursuit of the English Pinter's The Caretaker Barstow's A Kind of Loving Plath's The Colossus |
|
| 1961 |
Commonwealth Immigrants Act restricts right to settle in UK Structure of DNA discovered Building of Berlin Wall |
Osborne's Luther Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas |
|
| 1962 |
End of national military service Jamaica, Trinidad and Uganda become independent from UK |
Burgess' A Clockwork Orange Al Alvarez (ed), The New Poetry Carson's Silent Spring Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing Albee, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
Shaffer’s double bill, The Private Ear/The Public Eye, is performed in London |
| 1963 |
US President John F. Kennedy assassinated Kenya becomes independent Martin Luther King makes his 'I have a dream' speech |
1960-1963 Wilson Harris publishes The Guyana Quartet Plath's The Bell Jar Theatre Workshop, Oh! What a Lovely War Dunn's Up the Junction |
Shaffer begins to write for the National Theatre |
| 1964 |
Beatles become popular Labour PM, Harold Wilson Harlem race riots in USA Martin Luther King awarded Nobel Peace Prize Nelson Mandela sentenced to life in prison US Congress passes the Civil Rights Act banning segregation |
Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane Larkin's The Whitsun Weddings |
The Royal Hunt of the Sun is first performed |
| 1965 |
Vietnam war escalates Abolition of the death penalty (UK) Rhodesia declares independence from UK Race riots across America |
Osborne's A Patriot for Me Pinter's The Homecoming Plath's Ariel Bond's Saved Manning's The Balkan Trilogy |
Black Comedy is first performed |
| 1966 |
England wins the World Cup Guyana becomes independent from UK Television drama Cathy Come Home highlights homelessness in UK In China, Mao Zedong launches his Cultural Revolution |
Orton's Loot Fowles' The Magus Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Jubilee, Margaret Walker The Concubine, Elechi Amadi |
|
| 1967 |
Legalisation of abortion (UK) Homosexuality decriminalized (UK) First heart transplant Gough, Patten, Henri, The Mersey Sound |
Carter's The Magic Toyshop Dunn's Poor Cow |
|
| 1968 |
National Front formed (UK) Race Relations Bill declares race discrimination illegal in the UK Student uprising in Paris Martin Luther King assassinated USA passes Civil Rights Bill Enoch Powell makes 'Rivers of Blood' speech in Birmingham National Front formed (UK) |
Hines' A Kestrel for a Knave Bond's Early Morning End of theatre censorship in Britain When Rain Clouds Gather, Bessie Head |
|
| 1969 |
'Winter of Discontent' Americans land on the moon Start of Northern Ireland ‘troubles’ |
Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman Greene, Travels with my Aunt |
|
| 1970 |
Formation of Women’s Liberation Movement in UK Equal Pay Act, UK |
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye Ted Hughes, Crow |
|
| 1971 |
Decimalisation of UK currency Anti Vietnam war demonstrations |
Bond's Lear | |
| 1972 |
Terrorist attack at Munich Olympic Games Equal Opportunity Act extends 'affirmative action' to colleges and universities in USA |
Drabble, The Needle’s Eye Stoppard, Jumpers |
|
| 1973 |
Abortion legalised in USA USA pulls out of Vietnam Britain enters EEC |
Alan Ayckbourn, The Norman Conquests Sula, Toni Morrison Martin Amis, The Rachel Papers Greene, The Honorary Consul |
Equus is first performed |
| 1974 | President Richard Nixon resigns |
Larkin, High Windows Murdoch, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine |
|
| 1975 |
End of Vietnam war Sex Discrimination Bill (UK) North Sea oil comes on line |
Griffiths' Comedians Bradbury's The History Man Jhabvala's Heat and Dust Scott's The Raj Quartet Lodge's Changing Places Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time |
Equus wins a Tony Award for best play |
| 1976 |
Notting Hill (race) riots Advent of punk rock UK Race Relations Act strengthens anti-discrimination laws |
Edgar's Destiny | |
| 1977 |
Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee is celebrated Strikes by firefighters and riots against Far Right groups take place across the UK Public Works Employment Act - 10% of contractors to be from minorities First Virago Press publication First recognised AIDS death, New York |
Dennis Potter, Brimstone and Treacle Our Sister Killjoy, Ama Aidoo Stoppard, Professional Foul |
Equus is adapted for film |
| 1978 | The first 'test tube' baby |
Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea Weldon's Praxis McEwan's The Cement Garden Hare's Plenty |
|
| 1979 |
Conservative party wins General Election (first female British Prime Minister) 'Winter of Discontent' Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran flees Iran with his family |
Churchill's Cloud Nine Naipaul's A Bend in the River |
Amadeus |
| 1980 |
Start of civil war in El Salvador Mount St Helens volcano erupts in Washington State, USA AIDS epidemic starts to spread |
||
| 1981 |
Wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Riots in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester Reverend Sun Myung Moon marries 2075 couples in mass wedding in Madison Square Garden Falklands War Women’s anti-nuclear Greenham Common protests First CD players |
Rushdie's Midnight's Children The Women of Brewster Place, Gloria Naylor Churchill, Top Girls |
|
| 1982 | Reverend Sun Myung Moon marries 2075 couples in mass wedding in Madison Square Garden | ||
| 1983 | US cruise missiles stationed in UK |
Swift, Waterland Weldon, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil |
|
| 1984 |
Miner's Strike (UK) IRA attempt to assassinate PM Margaret Thatcher Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, is assassinated by her bodyguards |
Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate Carter's Nights at the Circus Amis' Money Ballard's Empire of the Sun Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot |
Amadeus is adapted for film |
| 1985 | Live Aid concerts for Ethiopian famine relief |
Ackroyd, Hawksmoor Brenton & Hare, Pravda Winterson, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit |
|
| 1986 | Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine | ||
| 1987 |
Conservatives win General Election Race riots (UK) The Great Storm devastates southern UK IRA bomb, Enniskillen Stock market crash |
Morrison's Beloved Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger Ian McEwan, The Child in Time Beloved, Toni Morrison Ackroyd, Chatterton Churchill, Serious Money |
Lettice and Lovage runs in London then New York |
| 1988 |
Death threats against Salman Rushdie PanAm flight 103 destroyed by bomb over Lockerbie |
Rushdie's Satanic Verses Hawking's A Brief History of Time |
|
| 1989 |
Revolutions in Eastern Europe lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall Exxon Valdez oil tanker spills millions of gallons of oil off Alaskan coast Protesting students massacred in Tiananmen Square, Beijing |
Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day Gwendolen, Buchi Emechera Winterson, Sexing the Cherry |
|
| 1990 |
Nelson Mandela freed from imprisonment in South Africa Germany re-unified |
Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia Byatt's Possession |
|
| 1991 |
Collapse of Soviet Union South Africa repeals apartheid laws |
||
| 1992 |
Jazz, Toni Morrison Hornby, Fever Pitch |
||
| 1993 |
Murder of Stephen Lawrence Nelson Mandela becomes President of South Africa UK National Lottery starts First female Anglican priests ordained |
D'Aguiar's British Subjects | Shaffer awarded an Honorary D. Litt. by Bath University |
| 1994 | Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa | ||
| 1996 | Islamist fundamentalist group, the Taliban, takes power in Afghanistan | ||
| 1997 | Hong Kong returned by Britain to Chinese rule | ||
| 1998 |
Hughes, Birthday Letters Motion, Selected Poems 1976-97 |
||
| 2000 |
Millennium celebrations Ishiguro, When we were Orphans |
Zadie Smith, White Teeth |
|
| 2001 | September 11th - destruction of World Trade Center towers in New York by terrorists flying planes into them | McEwan's Atonement |
Awarded Knight Bachelor in New Year’s Honours Death of Anthony Shaffer |
| 2003 | Invasion of Iraq by USA and Britain | ||
| 2004 |
Exploration of Mars by space probe Devastating Tsunami around Indian Ocean |
Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty Alan Bennett, The History Boys
Seamus Heaney, Beacons of Bealtaine |
|
| 2006 |
Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder Brian Friel, Faith Healer |
||
| 2007 |
Bovine foot and mouth epidemic Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister Widespread flooding First Kindle e-reader |
Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach | Equus revived in London and US by director Thea Sharrock, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Alan |
| 2008 |
Toni Morrison, A Mercy Death of Harold Pinter |
The global war which lasted from 1939 – 1945
Recently Viewed
-
Equus » Timeline
now
Scan and go
Scan on your mobile for direct link.