The existential comedy, which has become one of the more surprising Off-Broadway successes in years, will close Dec. 24, one week earlier than the previously announced.

Previews for the American premiere of the solo work began Jan. 25, 2005. It opened Feb. 1 for a limited run originally scheduled through April 3. The staging then extended to July 3 following positive critical response, then until Sept. 4, and finally until Dec. 31 (now changed to Dec. 24).

Thom Pain (based on nothing) is billed as "a wry monologue in which an ordinary man, Thom Pain, muses on childhood, yearning, disappointment and loss, cataloguing the eternal agonies of the human condition as he draws his audience into his last-ditch plea for empathy and enlightenment."

The work debuted in London at the Soho Theatre as a reading, then played with Urbaniak at the Edinburgh Festival, before returning for a limited run at the Soho. Hal Brooks directs the work in the New York run produced Daryl Roth and Bob Boyett.

The show recouped its investment in May. Eno won Newsday's George Oppenheimer Award as Most Promising Playwright for The Flu Season, which was produced by Rude Mechanicals at the Blue Heron Arts Center. Eno is an Albee protégé whose style has often been compared to that of the elder playwright.

Tickets to Thom Pain (based on nothing) at the DR2 Theatre can be purchased at the box office, 103 East 15th Street, or by calling (212) 239-6200.