`EQUUS' GALLOPS FORWARD WITH VERY FEW MISSTEPS.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

A HORSE OF a different color when it debuted in the 1970s, Peter Shaffer's ``Equus'' seems to be aging gracefully - even potentially thrillingly. East West Players artistic director Tim Dang's ability to secure the rights to the play for an all-Asian-American cast has turned out to be well worth the effort, and Dang's production, technically spare yet urgently evocative, strikes many of the right notes.

Only one is off-key and, alas, it's at the heart of the concerto: George Takei, the classically trained actor (and former ``Star Trek'' crew member Mr. Sulu) playing the psychiatrist at the play's center. Originally a vehicle for Anthony Hopkins and, later, Richard Burton, the role of Martin Dysart - an overly introspective shrink looking to break through to a troubled young man - has a latent electricity that Takei either eschews or just doesn't possess. The character is blocked, certainly, but Takei's mannered, studied interpretation holds Dysart at too great a distance.

That Takei's too-buttoned-up work here doesn't signal the production's derailment is a testament both to ``Equus' '' strength as a play and also to Dang's production. The play, which is also a kind of psychological whodunit, still buzzes with a current of fear. A stable boy in England has blinded six horses with a metal spike, a circumstance that Shaffer turns into an exposition on fear, religion, passion and deeply repressed sexuality.

For all of the play's talkiness, and Dysart's long-windedness, Dang's production is nothing if not exciting. All of the actors flank the back wall of the stage, an empty, open square resembling a boxing ring. Side and rear scenic flats (designed by Maiko Nezu) create the semblance of bar and stables where the six male actors playing horses watch over the action. A pair of drummers from TAIKOPROJECT (Bryan Yamami and Byron Yamada on opening night) greatly enhance the play's general air of heat and menace.

And while we may have come a long way in the depictions of animals, costume designer Annalisa Adams' use of detailed mesh metal horse heads atop platform-shoe-boosted actors is a thing of beauty. The actors - all male - are shirtless, sleek and every bit embodiments of extreme male energy. Particularly notable is the massive Wesley John as Nugget, a veritable horse/god worshipped by young Alan Strang (Trieu D. Tran).

Following the blinding, a surly and uncommunicative Alan winds up in Dysart's hospital. The boy's mother (Dian Kobayashi) is strongly religious, and his working-class father (Alberto Isaac) largely inattentive. A burned-out Dysart, who resisted taking the case, soon finds himself drawn to the nether regions of Alan's boiling psyche. Which eventually leads the psychologist to wonder what actually is ``wrong'' with Alan Strang, and if he, in fact, requires help. Who needs it more, doctor or patient?

The interplay between analyst and patient has produced much interesting drama and likely will continue to do so in the future. Even now, a few more miles to the east, the Pasadena Playhouse is currently performing a new play - ``Open Window'' - about the ``physician heal thyself'' implications of a psychologist looking to break through to a violent young man. Yes, we do love our troubled doctors.

``Equus' '' Alan Strang is a more fully realized character than ``Open Window's'' patient, and Tran - working bravely and balancing restraint with a full-out breakdown - shines. Rather fittingly, Tran also brings out the best elements of Takei's work. As Dysart clutches the prostrate and unconscious Alan, promising to do everything in his power to bring the boy some peace (even if so doing comes with a price tag), the connection between doctor and patient is palpable and touching.

Would that Takei could unstuff Dysart's humanity sooner and with greater consistency. That accomplished, East West Players' ``Equus'' might reach its full gallop.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

EQUUS - Three stars

Where: East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; through Dec. 4

Tickets: $35 to $40. [phone]; www.eastwestplayers.org.

In a nutshell: The doctor is out, but the rest of the production sizzles.

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Photo:

The shirtless Wesley John is one of the horses, here ridden by Trieu D. Tran's troubled stable boy, in the East West Players' ``Equus.''