Naked Truth: Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths to Co-Star in London Revival of Equus

Actor Daniel Radcliffe, famed for playing the title role in the tremendously successful Harry Potter series of films, will co-star with Richard Grifffiths in an upcoming London revival of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, according to reports published in England and the U.S.

Equus tells the story of Alan Strang, a deeply disturbed 17-year-old boy , and Martin Dysart, the psychiatrist who attempts to treat him. The play contains a lengthy nude scene during which Strang blinds six horses with a spike. Radcliffe will play Strang and Griffiths will play Dysart in the new production, which will be directed by Thea Sharrock and is slated to open in late February or March. No further details have yet been announced.

Griffiths played Uncle Vernon in three of the Harry Potter films. Last week, he took some time off from his Tony Award winning role in the Broadway production of The History Boys to film the fifth entry in the series with Radcliffe, 17, whose only previous stage appearance was as a guest star in the London production of The Play What I Wrote.

The original Broadway production of Equus opened in 1974 and ran for 1,209 performances. Peter Firth and Anthony Hopkins created the roles of Strang and Dysart, respectively; Hopkins was succeeded in his role by such actors as Richard Burton, Alec McCowen, Anthony Perkins, and Leonard Nimoy. The 1977 film version of Equus, directed by Sidney Lumet, starred Burton and Firth.