Quick close for 'King's Speech' play

• Tweet

LONDON, April 20 (UPI) -- The producers of the stage version of "The King's Speech" have announced the play will close in London's West End less than two months after it opened.

David Seidler penned the play and script for the 2010 film version, which starred Colin Firth.

Firth won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Britain's King George VI, a reluctant ruler who overcame a debilitating stammer, and the movie scored the Best Picture Oscar.

Although Seidler wrote the play before the movie, it was not staged until more than two years after the film was released in theaters.

"Two years ago, originating producer Michael Alden was ready to put the play on and the film came along and blocked its path," the producers said in a statement issued to the BBC Friday.

"At the start of this year, we believed that enough time had passed between the film and our opening. This clearly was not the case," the statement said. "We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished. It is a production of genuine quality that has been critically and publicly acclaimed across the board."

The play is to close May 12. It stars Charles Edwards as King George VI, Jonathan Hyde as unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, Emma Fielding as Queen Elizabeth, Joss Ackland as King George V and Ian McNeice as Winston Churchill.