Equus and a naked Daniel Radcliffe

[Little_Mare]

Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm not familiar with the play but from what I've read, as a horsey person, I think I'd find it tough viewing...

As for young Mr Potter's nudity, I'm sick of hearing about it! I was repulsed at first - I keep forgetting he's 17! The reviews I've read seem positive about his performance, I'm not really a Potter fan, I've only seen the first film and have to say I didn't think he was very promising but fair play.

 

[Imonone]

Ive seen the film and to be honest remember it as a bit weird and spooky.

Not taken with Daniels acting that Ive seen to date, but perhaps this is more his thing than Harry Potter.

 

[Jemayni]

Not wure if Id want to see the "full picture" but I have to confess Daniel radcliffe is on my list of "one of those people you really shouldnt fancy but do!"

*hangs head in shame.

*

In my defense, without the potter glasses; he really isnt that bad - some have tipped him as the future James Bond.

ETS: Just read that through again, makes me sound like a child molester; just for clarification Im 18

 

[xspiralx]

oh god, please no, not James Bond!

He's a nice enough kid but he could never carry off the James Bond character imo!

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Taken from the BBC website...a review of Daniels stage debut

<font color="blue"> A star-studded audience saw Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe make his full West End debut in Equus.

Christian Slater, Bob Geldof and Richard E Grant were just a few of the luminaries who braved the paparazzi outside London's Gielgud Theatre.

Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Helena Bonham Carter - performers with close ties to the Harry Potter phenomenon - were also in attendance.

For all the celebrity talent in the stalls, however, there was only one focus of attention once the lights went down.

The controversial nature of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play, combined with reports of Radcliffe's on-stage nudity, has already made this the hottest ticket in town.

To concentrate on the sensational aspects of Thea Sharrock's production, however, would be a disservice to its star's accomplished and thoroughly committed performance.

Boasting a well-toned physique and a compelling stage presence, Radcliffe quickly distances himself from his boy wizard alter-ego.

Minimal experience

Indeed, the overriding impression is of a gifted young actor casting off the shackles of a restrictive screen persona.

Daniel Radcliffe and Joanna Christie in Equus
Radcliffe and Joanna Christie leave little to the imagination
True, he is perhaps too composed to be wholly credible as Alan Strang, the disturbed stable boy sectioned for blinding six horses.

Nor do his polished vowels befit a character who, according to Shaffer's text, is both ill-educated and semi-literate.

With a maturity and intensity that belie his 17 years, though, the teenage heart-throb compellingly conveys the angst and trauma of a youth in crisis.

And as Shaffer pieces together the sorry history that led him to commit such an inexplicable act of violence, Radcliffe ensures he retains both our sympathy and our compassion.

Looking visibly drained and shaken as he took his bows, Tuesday's opening night clearly took its toll on an actor with minimal theatrical experience.

Then again, he had just been required to strip naked for a sex scene with co-star Joanna Christie that leaves little to the imagination.

With two rows of audience members seated directly behind the actors on stage, there is nowhere to hide.

It would be no slight on their exertions, though, to lavish equal praise on Richard Griffiths for his work as the conflicted therapist who guides Strang through his psychological minefield.

Tortured mind

In a role created on stage by Alec McCowen and played on film by Richard Burton, Griffiths is a portrait of avuncular concern tempered by nagging self-doubt.

Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths in Equus
Richard Griffiths' performance has also been praised
It is a dichotomy that mirrors the play's ambivalent attitude towards psychiatry when it comes to explaining the workings of a tortured mind.

Animal lovers will be relieved to know Equus - the Latin word for horse - has actors wearing metal headgear standing in for actual livestock.

In lesser hands such a device might seem incongruous, but Sharrock makes it feel entirely natural.

This is no mean feat in a drama that presents a lurid cocktail of sexual repression, religious obsession and stylised animal cruelty.

But the real triumph is Radcliffe's for winning his thespian spurs in one of the most demanding roles an actor his age could tackle.

Compared to the emotional exposure the part entails, his well-publicised disrobing seems almost incidental.

Harry Potter fans, though, have one more shock in store should they choose to see their hero in his current guise.

More shocking than wounding horses and having sex? Perhaps. Shortly after the interval, Daniel smokes a cigarette. </font>

Seems thew boy did good!

Beth

 

[harrihjc]

I think I'd quite like to see it, it sounds odd and things like that are usually entertaining

 

[SJFAN]

Entertaining is not the right adjective. I've not seen this production but did see the original at the National Theatre and a production at the Birmingham Rep. It's a very well written play and is harrowing rather than entertaining.

 

[Fantasy_World]

I saw the original film and thought it was very disturbing with Peter Firth playing the disturbed boy in that film. Don't know if I would want to go and watch Daniel Radcliffe playing that role to be honest as it would evoke childhood memories of a film in particular a scene I would rather forget

 

[spaniel]

I too saw the original stage production and have since seen the film.

Its well worth seeing but dont assume you wont have to 'work' at it. Its what I call true theatre rather than 'entertainment'. Personally I think its still a very well written, deep dark and trouble bit of writing but I do like to be challenged.

 

[Faithkat]

The play is very strange, not to say somewhat disturbing and I think DR is brave to take a very difficult part particularly given his only claim to fame at the moment being Harry Potter but perhaps that's why he did it, to try and break the mould and make people realise that he's not the adorable 11 year old (as in The Philosopher's Stone) any more.

I have to say, too, that he is pretty fanciable (but I'm far too old to be admitting to those kind of thoughts . . . . god help him if I was 17 !!!!)

 

[lucemoose]

Yuck. Harry Potter's all hairy. He requested that the on-stage temperature be kept down low in case he might 'pop' up in some of the more intimate scenes...
Tsssk, keep your magic wand in check, danny boy...

 

[polyphonic]

[ QUOTE ]
Yuck. Harry Potter's all hairy. He requested that the on-stage temperature be kept down low in case he might 'pop' up in some of the more intimate scenes...
Tsssk, keep your magic wand in check, danny boy...

[/ QUOTE ]

PMSL!!

 

[brendon]

I have seen the film I first heard of the film from a friend who told me it was about a boy who got his sexual release from riding horses bareback??the film was the only version i ve seen with jenny agutter as stable girl..the film is worth seeing filmed in canada.back in the1970,s..the play was based on a true story..Peter Shaffer was being driven through the misty english countryside, as he passed some stables his driver told him of the horrific attack on some horses who had been blinded by a maniac...