Going Potty For Daniel

Thursday 5th April

Tonight was the night that Spanielle and I had been excited about for the last month or so since we booked tickets. We went and saw ‘Equus’.

We both freely admit that the only reason that we originally booked the tickets was to see Harry Potter’s willy. I know it’s very sad, and we should really have been more mature but we got the tickets through www.lastminute.com so it wasn’t like we paid the full whack to see his tackle as that truly would be quite sad.

Now as for the willy itself, it wasn’t that impressive (Spanielle had her binoculars at the ready) but hey it was cold up there and you might get a bit of a nervous, shy and retiring winkle if you had it out in front of several hundred people. What the evening brought me that I didn’t expect was an amazing play.

KC had been telling me all week that I mustn’t get drunk (I did a bit) as it is really, really complicated. I would disagree, I mean the story is certainly no picnic; it deals with a child who has severe mental problems. The speech and particularly the acting make it highly digestible and it whizzes before your eyes.

The story surrounds a boy called Alan Strang who is sort of sexually stimulated by horses and idolises them and the fact that he rides them and then mutilates them. His psychiatrist is the narrator of the piece and was played by the amazing Richard Griffiths (and who I have to say I didn’t realise was as big as he is – I worry for his health) who tells the tale beautifully and gets a few laughs in places.

One of the most powerful performances of the evening must get a mention and that was by Gabrielle Reidy who played the boys mother Dora Strang. She took you through so many emotions in a simply stunning performance the likes I haven’t seen in a play in ages.

However for me the finest performance of the night went to Danielle Radcliffe. As I knew him as Harry Potter I was naturally thinking that is how I would see him during the whole play. Not true at all. I didn’t find myself thinking ‘oh that’s Harry Potter playing Harry Potter with a dark twist and no clothes’, I just thought ‘wow this lad can act.’ I think he’s chosen a great play in which to start to shed the Harry image. I also think that he is a well and truly talented actor. I’d recommend this play to anyone and everyone.