Equus behind the scenes

Saturday last week was the final show for Equus. Earlier in the week I had photographed the tech rehearsal (blog post) which gave some nice photos of the beautiful stage and lighting. I wanted more. So I asked if I could come for the show on Saturday, and photograph a bit behind the scenes.

I captured everything from the preparations before the show, with singing and body painting by the chorus, to the mad dancing in the dressing room by certain cast members, and finally a few shots from the play itself.

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Max Roberts getting groomed by Landi Wagner and Bethan Davidson. This was their last night, and I wanted to capture the atmosphere. The camaraderie and also anticipation for the evening.
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Bethan Davidson and Kirsten Lee in front of the mirror. I was somewhat restricted by just having my 50 mm lens, but by using the mirror I could get a bit of much needed distance to my subjects.
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Safety pins keep the wrappings in place. Here a focused Matilda Wickham.
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I like these natural frames, add a smile and you have a good photo. Landi Wagner singing while painting Anna Clart.
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Anna Clart and Landi Wagner with Daniel Rasbash in the background. I moved around to shoot in profile. There was not much space to step back, otherwise I would have done this shot a little bit wider.
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The mirrors were my friend, unfortunately they were not all that clean. Here Megan Dunne (back turned), Elinor Lipman, Eloise Poulton, Daniel Rasbash, Benedict Hawkins and Anna Clart.
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The careful moment just before applying the first brush stroke to the face. Max Roberts and Matilda Wickham.
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Dinner time was approaching, thankfully the cast were well prepared. A nutritious meal to keep them going for the next few hours. Olivia Stamp and Gabriel Agranoff.
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A quick meeting and a warm-up. Almost time to head up to the stage. Jamie Webb, Robert Thomas, Katurah Morrish, Jonah Hauer-King, Kirsten Lee, Ben Walsh, Anna Clart, Molly Frederikse, Megan Dunne and Peter Skidmore in the foreground.
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About 10-15 min into the play, this happened in the dressing room downstairs. Amy Malone, Bea Svistunenko and Katurah Morrish.
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Amy
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Bea and Katurah having a moment.
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These girls love to dance.
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A quiet moment outside.
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Meanwhile Max Roberts is about to enter the stage.
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It was tricky to get a good shot from the side, so I moved up into the sound box behind the audience which gave me a better view. Centre stage, Jonah Hauer-King and Ben Walsh.
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Equus!

I shot the second act from the sound desk. I was not sure how audible my shutter was. The old camera is quite noisy, but the new one that I had with me for the night has a quiet mode which is considerably quieter. Still I tried to limit the shooting to the loud moments.

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This photo was taken at the tech rehearsal. The cast is watching a Swedish skin flick, with the light flickering on their faces.
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This photo is also from the tech rehearsal.

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It was really fun to be able to follow the preparations during the evening, and be a part of Equus. I hope that I have managed to give you a glimpse of what took place. Thanks to the director Pete Skidmore for letting me join in the fun, and thanks to the cast and crew for a great evening!

First blog post about Equus is here.

– Johannes

 

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