Harry Potter ditches the glasses and all his clothes

[eggplant107]

>From the Sunday Times
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The Times  	July 28, 2006

Harry Potter ditches the glasses . . . and all his clothes

By Jack Malvern, Arts Reporter

HE found fame wearing wizards' gowns and schoolboy scarves, but Daniel
Radcliffe has chosen to make his debut on the London stage wearing
nothing at all.

The 17-year-old actor, who is now a multimillionaire thanks to the
Harry Potter films, has been cast as the stable boy in Equus, Peter
Shaffer's controversial drama about a boy's erotic relationship with
horses.

Peter Thompson, a spokesman for the production, said that Radcliffe
would appear in the play, scheduled for early 2007 in a West End theatre.

He will play Alan Strang, a psychologically disturbed youth who is
interviewed by a psychiatrist after he blinds six horses with a metal
spike.

The role requires the actor to simulate sexual pleasure while riding
naked on his horse. It is a departure for Radcliffe, whose career has
been dominated by his part as JK Rowling's teenage wizard. He recently
finished filming December Boys, in which he plays one of four orphans
hoping to be adopted.

Richard Griffiths, who plays Harry Potter's curmudgeonly uncle in the
films, is in talks to take the psychiatrist role. It would be a
triumphant return to the London stage for the actor, who won a Tony
award for his lead role in The History Boys.

Last week, the pair were filming Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix, the fifth in the series.

Shaffer's work caused a sensation when it was first staged at the
National Theatre in 1973. It transferred to Broadway, where it starred
Anthony Hopkins, and ran for 1,200 performances, making it one of the
most successful plays in New York history. It was made into a
Hollywood film starring Richard Burton in 1977.

The playwright, whose works include Amadeus and The Royal Hunt of the
Sun, based the story on a real-life incident in which a boy
inexplicably maimed six horses.

It encompasses sexual awakening, Greek mythology and religion. The
psychiatrist attempts to explain the boy's actions, but must confront
his own demons in the process.

The play was the subject of controversy recently after John Owen, a
drama teacher at Ysdgol Gyfun Rhydfelen in Pontypridd, was accused of
sexual abuse after staging it as a school play. He committed suicide
the day before he was due to appear in court.

A subsequent report by the National Assembly for Wales called for a
ban on Equus in schools.

Radcliffe's agent did not respond to inquiries last night.