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From Hogwart's to horses

Daniel Radcliffe, a.k.a. Harry Potter, takes a break from the world of wizards for a starring role in Equus.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 29, 2006

LONDON - Daniel Radcliffe will strip off his Harry Potter eyeglasses and robes for his London stage debut next year.

The 17-year-old actor, who plays the bespectacled schoolboy wizard in the Hollywood adaptations of J.K. Rowling's novels, will star as a troubled stableboy in Peter Shaffer's Equus.

The play delves into the psyche of a boy named Alan Strang, who blinds six horses with a metal spike. The production is scheduled to open in March in the West End theater district, spokesman Peter Thompson said.

"It is an extraordinary play, and he's very much looking forward to the role," Radcliffe's spokeswoman, Vanessa Davies, said Friday. "He is maturing as an actor and beginning to take on new and challenging roles."

In one scene, the actor playing Strang is required to simulate sexual ecstasy while riding a horse naked.

Richard Griffiths, who plays Harry's Uncle Vernon in the films, is lined up to portray the psychiatrist who interviews the troubled youth. Griffiths won a Tony Award this year for his role in the play The History Boys on Broadway.

Radcliffe is now filming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth installment in the series. He recently finished shooting December Boys, the story of four orphans who compete for adoption.

Equus opened in 1973 at London's National Theatre. It went on to a successful Broadway run starring Anthony Hopkins as the psychiatrist and won the Tony for best play in 1975.

Richard Burton starred in a 1977 film adaptation.

[Last modified July 29, 2006, 01:44:07]