London Equus to Open at the Gielgud on February 27

Dates and a theatre have been announced for the upcoming London revival of Equus, which will star the Harry Potter films' Daniel Radcliffe and The History Boys Tony Award-winner Richard Griffiths.

The production of Peter Shaffer's psychological drama will begin previews at the Gielgud Theatre on February 16th, 2006, and open on February 27th, 2007.

Radcliffe will begin rehearsals after he finishes shooting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (in which Griffiths will also appear, once again as Uncle Vernon).   Radcliffe will play Alan Strang, an emotionally troubled boy who has been blinding horses.  Griffiths will play Martin Dysart, a psychiatrist who tries to help Alan.

Thea Sharrock, the artistic director of the famed Gate Theatre, will helm the revival of the play--which features a much-publicized scene in which Radcliffe's character rides nude on a horse.

Equus won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Play.  Starring Peter Firth as Alan Strang and Anthony Hopkins as Martin Dysart, with Marian Seldes, Frances Sternhagen and others in the cast, it opened at the Plymouth Theatre on October 24th, 1974 and ran for 1,209 performances.  Firth and Richard Burton starred in the 1977 Sidney Lumet-directed film.

Radcliffe has also appeared in "David Copperfield" and The Tailor of Panama; he will also be seen in the upcoming December Boys.  Although the production will mark his debut in a full-length professional play, he was previously seen as the celebrity guest in London's The Play What I Wrote.

Griffiths, who won a Tony Award for his performance as Hector in The History Boys (and who will reprise the role in the upcoming film), has been seen in many films and plays on the West End.  Film credits include Withnail & I, King Ralph and Sleepy Hollow, while London theatre credits include The History Boys, The Merry Wives of Windsor and A Midsummer Night's Dream.