If you’re looking for a brainless, meaningless substitute for “Beavis & Butt-Head,” don’t even set foot near the Iowa State Center next weekend. But if you’re craving some intense brain food, make sure, without a doubt, that you check out the theater department’s production of Equus.

It is the tale of a young man, 17-year-old Alan Strang (played by Tim Davis), who has bewildered his family by blinding six horses with a metal spike in the stable where he works.

Dr. Martin Dysart (played by Gregg Henry, associate professor of theater), Alan’s psychiatrist, is trying to get to the bottom of things and figure out what made Alan commit such a heinous act.

The show started promptly, backed by a stripped-down set. The simple scenery of what looked like a bunch of hanging wooden crosses stays the same through all scenes; they stand in for stables, Dysart’s office, the Strang home and a couple of other settings. Only spotlights separate the different scenes, making for a very bare-bones set that allows full concentration on the characters and what they are saying.

We get our first glimpse of Dr. Dysart as he narrates the play, giving a little background of himself and Alan, all the while chain-smoking like a fiend.

Alan is a story in himself. Different characters describe him in no uncertain terms before we even meet him: he is “probably abominable,” “one more adolescent freak,” “a weird lad.” (But then, what teenager isn’t?)

Once Davis stalks on stage, looking like any other abnormally normal kid in a flannel and hiking boots, we finally get to witness his, well, attitude for ourselves. He is a surly, defiant kid who would rather sing Doublemint commercials than speak. He gets in Dysart’s face and shoots everyone around him a glare that could melt steel. This is no normal teen angst about pimples or prom. This guy has gone through some major trauma.

Once Alan starts trusting and opening up to Dysart, the tangled tale of his life begins to unravel. We learn of his parents: his mom, a highly religious woman (played by Cara Peterson) and his dad, an atheist (Mark Sutch), who send him totally mixed messages.

We find out that Alan, like any other kid stumbling through puberty, is confused about sex and religion, and his overprotective parents aren’t helping matters.

Equus definitely puts the focus where it belongs: on the characters. In the hands of a lesser cast, this would’ve meant disaster, but with such talents as Henry and Davis, the play is nothing short of brilliant.

Both infuse life and fire into their characters: Henry is definitely not a Jason Seaver, that annoying dad from “Growing Pains” who always wants everyone to talk through his or her problems. Rather, we find out through the course of the play the Dysart is a real person, that while he is learning about Alan, he is also finding out a lot about himself.

Davis embraces the role of “kid” with such eagerness and expertise that you have to wonder if he’s not really 17. He pushes Dysart’s buttons like only kids can, and at the same time, he displays the passion and emotion of someone twice his age.

And the horses! Wow! Six guys in brown velvet unitards, six-inch platform “hooves” and metal, cage-like heads portrayed the horses in a very representational way. But they had the actions down; the horse-like head movements, the walking, the hoof stomping.

So for all possible reasons, don’t you dare miss Equus. It will definitely make you open your eyes.

Additional performances of Equus are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, all at Fisher Theater. Tickets are $4.75 for students and $7.75 for adults. They are available through Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 233-1888 and at the door.