FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 18, 2013 file photo British actor Matt Smith poses for the photographers as he arrives for a reception at Buckingham Palace, in central London. An energetic musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel "American Psycho," about a soulless yuppie serial killer at large in 1980s Manhattan, has opened on stage in London, Dec. 2013. The show stars Matt Smith, best known as the galaxy-hopping hero of the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, pool, File)
December 13, 2013 - 3:53 AM
LONDON - An energetic musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel "American Psycho," about a soulless yuppie serial killer at large in 1980s Manhattan, has opened on stage in London.
The show stars Matt Smith, best known as the galaxy-hopping hero of the BBC sci-fi series "Doctor Who."
The book's graphic violence provoked extreme reactions when it was published in 1991. The play, which opened Thursday at the Almeida Theatre, seems unlikely to generate such starkly opposing views, though it did divide critics.
The Times of London's Dominic Maxwell gave it five stars out of five on Friday, calling it "a darkly funny, outrageously entertaining evening." But Daily Telegraph critic Charles Spencer found it "glib, heartless and pretentious" — though he predicted: "It's going to be a big hit."
News from © The Associated Press, 2013