London Bent and Summer and Smoke Revivals to Close Early

By John Nathan
13 Nov 2006

Two London revivals will close early.

The West End revival of Bent starring Alan Cumming will finish its run at the Trafalgar Studios on Dec. 9, five weeks earlier than planned.

News of the closure comes with the announcement that another West End revival, Tennessee Williams’s Summer and Smoke — starring Rosamind Pike and American Chris Carmack — is also to close early on Nov. 25. Performances for that production began at the Apollo Theatre on Oct. 18 following previews from Oct. 11.

Daniel Kramer’s (Hair, Through the Leaves) production of Martin Sherman’s Bent opened Oct. 5 following previews from Sept. 22. The revival, first seen at the Royal Court in 1979 with Ian McKellen as Max, was originally booking until Jan. 13, 2007.

Cumming, who won a 1998 Tony for his portrayal of the Emcee in Sam Mendes’ Donmar revival of Cabaret, plays the lead role of Max, a gay man who finds love, self-respect and death in the Nazi concentration camp Dachau.

Summer and Smoke received its Broadway premiere in 1947, following Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire a year earlier. Adrian Noble’s revival is the first London production for over 50 years.

In a statement, the production’s producer Kim Poster said, "Despite very positive reviews, ticket sales have not been sufficient and therefore I have made the very difficult decision to close the show. I would like to thank the very talented creative team, cast and crew for their dedication to this production."