Annette Bening has dropped out of the Geffen Playhouse's Broadway-bound run of Joanna Murray-Smith's The Female of the Species for "personal reasons," according to Variety. The play, to be directed by Michael Mayer, is set to run at the L.A. theater February 5-March 16, 2008, with a Broadway run in late April. Scripts are being sent to other actresses in hopes of keeping the play on schedule at the Geffen.
"Live theater always means surprises," Geffen Playhouse producing director Gil Cates said in a statement. "We wanted to communicate Annette's situation with our subscribers and supporters as soon as possible. We're exploring a range of options." Bening last appeared on Broadway in 1987 in Tina Howe's Coastal Disturbances, a role that brought her a Theatre World Award and Tony nomination. In recent years, in addition to her film career, she has starred in Los Angeles productions of Hedda Gabler and The Cherry Orchard.
Bening was set to play a feminist literary giant suffering writer's block as deadlines for her new book keep passing. A fan arrives at her doorstep, and the writer's life unravels. The Geffen production will be the American premiere of the play, which has been produced in Australia, Murray-Smith's home country. She is best known in America for the play Honour, which had a brief run on Broadway in 1998.
