Though little publicized and seemingly lost amidst a volley of late summer Off Broadway openings and fall season fever, Amos Kamil's new play, The Flame Keeper, managed to run nearly three months at the 47th Street Theatre. According to the Cromarty & Co. press office, the drama will have run 18 previews and 84 regular performances by its Sept. 18 close. Performances began June 20 for an opening July 6.

The Flame Keeper explores the choices a Jewish professor and German shopkeeper made to survive World War II. The professor's return to Berlin in 1946, and the way he takes revenge on one man "for the sins of an entire nation" (as an early announcement put it) is at the center of the piece, by Israeli-born, New York City raised Kamil. Charles Goforth directs Lenny Mandel and Paul Whelihan.

The Wayne Howard Group is producing. The play was previously seen in a production at the Luna Stage in New Jersey.

Designers are Kenneth Foy (scenic), Gail Cooper Hecht (costumes) and Jason Kantrowitz (lighting).

Tickets are $45. The 47th Street Theatre is at 304 W. 47th St. (off Eighth Avenue). For information or tickets, call (212) 239-6200. -- By Kenneth Jones
and David Lefkowitz