It’s the controversial play that details one man’s love towards a chicken but London audiences can’t get enough of Daniel Radcliffe and his cockerel in this new reinterpretation of Peter Shaffer’s classic 1973 play, Equus.

Radcliffe plays a young boy left traumatised when he mutilates his pet cockerel, Jeremy, and Richard Griffiths plays the psychologist set the task of unlocking this mysterious and taboo relationship.

Despite the positive reaction of audiences, London’s theatre critics have questioned the alterations made to the play. The boy’s love of horses in the original has been changed to a love for fowl, leading Griffiths to laugh off suggestions that the change was made for the sake of cheap innuendo or internet search engines.

‘How could we get real horses onto such a small stage?’ he asks. ‘I think the director’s alterations are justified once you see how Daniel Radcliffe has formed such a close working relationship with his cock. I know Daniel learned to handle owls for the Harry Potter films but handling a cock just isn’t the same.’

‘I’m enjoying the experience of acting in front of a live audience,’ Radcliffe admits, ‘but we’re all finding it difficult working with animals. Being on stage with a live chicken means we have to be ready to improvise our movements. A cock can be very unpredictable and we have to be quick to react to whatever it decides to do.’

Audiences will continue to queue up to see Daniel Radcliffe and his cockerel until later in the year when the play is expected to move to Broadway.

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