"In Boxcar Theatre's revival the performance of young Bobby Conte Thornton as the boy Alan Strang is the most rewarding element. Mr. Thornton's emotional range is enormous, his character arc as Alan begins to respond to therapy, and his convincing encounter with Nugget are completely effective and memorable."

"...Mr. Thornton's Alan is a performance worth the price of admission."

-Charles Krueger, Bay Area Theatre Examiner

"The star of the night, though, is 18 year old Bobby Conte Thornton - Deeply troubled Alan Strang. His portrayal of a tortured and torturing youth was breathtaking. His honesty in his character and the pain Alan possessed was mesmerizing. Not only must his mother be proud, but the Bay Area Theatre Community will be inspired by such new and rare talent."

-Eileen Attridge, Audience Member

"The young actor staring Alan was fantastic!!"

Lisa Maria Burkhard, Audience Member

"Bobby Conte Thornton in the Alan Strang role was exceptionally good."

G M Lorenzo, Audience Member

"The evening is a major triumph for 18-year-old Bobby Conte Thortnon as the emotionally tortured Alan Strang. Thornton's facial features are smooth enough to assume the expressions of a young child seeing his first horse, and furious enough to assume the full wrath of an angry teenager. The fact that he is a few inches taller than Shipley [Dr. Dysart] makes his portrayal the first Alan Strang I've seen who could make the audience understand that this is a teenager whose body had grown to full size much faster than his emotions have matured; a boy in the body of a man who might not know his own strength."

George Heymont, My Cultural Landscape

"The young actor playing Alan Strang is immensely talented, honest, simple and naturalistic"

Bobby: Really the only thing I knew about Equus when I was asked to come audition was that it was the Harry Potter naked play. When I did start reading it however, I realized that this is probably the greatest role ever for a teenager or anyone in the theatre, not just because of the nudity, but because of the emotional arch and the massive vulnerability Alan shows. What scared me about it was that I knew that no matter how much I analyzed the role, and how I as Bobby would be viewed by people outside of my supportive circle of family and friends, there would be issues and things that arise that I'm not even thinking about. So I was afraid of the unknown, but when I started working with Erin and this team, I felt so secure in what I was doing.

BT: What's it like getting naked on stage?

Bobby: When I was offered the role, my mom made me watch the movie to understand what I was getting into, which lead to long conversations every night about what I'm risking by doing this show. In fact, I ended up writing my college application essay on my decision process for taking Alan. However, through all this discussion, the nudity was never the biggest or scariest issue. We all knew that it was me acting; that the nudity was necessary to further the plot and, when done tastefully, is extremely moving. What I actually did was when I found out what day I would be doing the naked scene with Lili, I came early to the 2-3 rehearsals before the date and just spent time on the set naked to get comfortable in my body and the space. So when it came time to do the scene with Lili, it wasn't a big deal. And to do it in front of an audience every week is just the most thrilling and freeing experience ever, especially adding the intense issues of the play on top of it.