Daniel Radcliffe in Equus
|
The West End revival of Peter Shaffer's Equus is headed to Broadway. Thea Sharrock’s production, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths will end its limited run at the Gielgud Theatre on 9 June as scheduled and will not be extended or recast.
"We could have replaced Dan and Richard, but the thought of having to do a half-cocked production into the summer didn't thrill us," producer David Pugh said in The Daily Mail. Though many thought that Jamie Bell, the star of the screen version of Billy Elliot, would replace Radcliffe, a spokesperson for the production told Theatre.com, "I can confirm that Jamie Bell is not going into Equus. It’s a rumour and it’s incorrect.” Radcliffe and Griffiths have agreed to recreate their performances on Broadway next spring.
Richard Griffiths in Equus
|
There are also plans to take the production on the road for a U.K. tour, with former Coronation Street actor Richard Fleeshman taking the role of Alan Strang, the troubled adolescent stable boy played by Radcliffe. The 12-week national tour will open at the Theatre Royal Bath on 28 August. An Australian production is also in the works.
[AD]In his Theatre.com Review, Matt Wolf applauded Radcliffe's stage debut, asking, "Can Daniel Radcliffe cut it on stage? Without a doubt, though the question posed by the first-ever West End revival of Equus is whether Peter Shaffer's once-defining play is worth cutting it to start with… That Radcliffe acquits himself well—he's as firm of voice as he is taut of physique, to get that particular issue out of the way—shows a commitment to the actual task of acting that represents its own kind of wizardry. This is one erstwhile child star clearly poised to make the leap to an adult career and, with luck, he'll next choose a vehicle that, to co-opt Shaffer's own language, truly does gallop."
In addition to Radcliffe and Richards, the West End cast includes Jenny Agutter, Joanna Christie, Jonathan Cullen, Colin Haigh,Will Kemp, Karen Meagher and Gabrielle Reidy.