Theatre 'barrier' built to protect naked Radcliffe from fans

[minisoji]

LONDON : The Broadway theatre, which is set to host the play Equus starring Daniel Radcliffe, had to revamp the stage to prevent female fans from mobbing the Harry Potter star who has a nude scene in it.

In the play, Radcliffe strips completely and theatre bosses were scared that he might get distracted by, and at risk from, fans in stage-level seats. So theatre designer John Napier raised those seats by more than two meters, creating a barrier between the audience and the actor

Napier said: "If you put Harry Potter on the stage with people directly in front of him, you're likely to get a lot of screaming young girls, particularly when he takes his kit off. It was a very sensible decision for us to raise the audience up. There's more of a barrier."

The show opens Sep 25.