The Count of Monte Cristo,
Richard Bean‘s follow-up to the award-winning One Man, Two Guvnors,
will not now be premiering at the National Theatre this Christmas.
Bean’s adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel was due to open in the
Olivier Theatre on 27 November, but has been postponed until further
notice.
A spokesperson for the National said
that NT artistic director, Nicholas Hytner, and Bean “felt that the show would benefit from more
development time, with a view to us being able to stage it at some
point in the future. We are presently deciding what to produce in its
place”.
Around
12,000 tickets had already been sold for the show. The NT has
contacted all bookers via email to advise them that their tickets
will be refunded.
The
Count of Monte Cristo was to have been the NT directing
debut of Timothy
Sheader, artistic director at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.