Peter Shaffer Shaffer received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre in 1992. Two years later he was appointed Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University. In 1993 he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) by the University of Bath. Shaffer's play, "Five Finger Exercise" won the Evening Standard Drama Award when it premiered in London and then won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Foreign Play when it moved to New York City. Shaffer's play, "Equus" won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play and the New York Drama
Equus (play) attraction. Also important is Shaffer's examination of the conflict between personal values and satisfaction and societal mores, expectations, and institutions. In reference to the play's classical structure, themes, and characterisation, Shaffer has discussed the conflict between Apollonian and Dionysian values and systems in human life. Martin Dysart is a psychiatrist in a mental hospital. He begins with a monologue in which he outlines the case of 17-year-old Alan Strang, who blinded six horses. He also divulges his feeling that his occupation is not all that he wishes it to be and his feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment about his barren