“Equus”, its producers maintain, is “the most expensive production of a straight play yet to hit the West End, costing £700,000 to bring to the Gielgud – twice the capitalisation cost of The Play What I Wrote. A lot of factors piled on the pounds: the cast size (there are 14 in the company), a six-week rehearsal period, the high-spec onstage seating for the audience, and also the need to cement the pre-opening publicity with a fresh advertising campaign capitalising on the glowing reviews for Radcliffe in the starring role opposite Richard Griffiths as psychiatrist Dysart.”