Prick Up Your Ears posts closing notices
Story by Lizzie Guilfoyle
PRICK Up Your Ears has posted closing notices at the Comedy Theatre. Originally booking until December 6, it will now close on Sunday, November 15, 2009.
Despite very good feedback and notices for Con O’Neill’s performance, the box office sales have not been sufficient to keep the show going, and so the producers have taken the difficult decision to close the show three weeks prior to its scheduled end date.
Previously Posted: Matt Lucas, who withdrew from Simon Bent’s Prick Up Your Ears last week following the death of his former civil partner Kevin McGee, will not be returning to the production. Instead, the role of Kenneth Halliwell will be played by Con O’Neill from October 22.
Inspired exclusively by the John Lahr biography and the diaries of Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears examines the private lives of two extraordinary men – Kenneth Halliwell and Joe Orton.
A dark comedy, it imagines what happened when, after years of creative collaboration, the door slammed shut and Halliwell found himself alone in the bed-sit he and Orton shared, reduced to the lowly status of ‘house-husband’ and becoming increasingly threatened and isolated by his lover’s success.
O’Neill’s theatre credits include Faces in the Crowd (Royal Court Theatre), The Female of the Species (Vaudeville Theatre); The Caretaker (Tricycle Theatre); Southwark Fair (National Theatre); Nick Moran’s black comedy Telstar (New Ambassadors Theatre and more recently, on screen); Mother Clap’s Molly House; and Blood Brothers in which he originated the role of Mickey and for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
His other screen credits include A Perfect Match and Bedrooms and Hallways (film); The Stepfather, My Hero, Trial and Retribution, Tom Jones and Waking The Dead (TV).
A statement issued on behalf of the producers of Prick Up Your Ears said:
“We are thrilled that Con O’Neill, an actor of such significance, is available to take on the role of Kenneth Halliwell at such short notice in our production of Prick up Your Ears. Given the sad news that Matt Lucas has recently received, and the role he was playing, it is understandable that he could not return to play Halliwell at this time and our thoughts are with him.
“On-going support for our production from audiences at the Comedy Theatre over the past week has been wonderful and given the huge investment from our cast, director, writer and production team, we are delighted that the brilliant Con O’Neill is joining our company so that the show we are so proud of can complete its West End run.”
Until O’Neill takes over on October 22, understudy Michael Chadwick will continue in the role. And although refunds are not being offered, theatregoers with tickets for any of the understudy performances can request exchanges for dates later in the run.
Prick Up Your Ears, which stars Chris New as Joe Orton and Gwen Taylor as the couple’s neighbour Mrs Corden, continues at the Comedy Theatre until December 6, 2009.
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