MARIANNE FAITHFULL - FAITHFULL QUITS PLAY

Sixties pop icon MARIANNE FAITHFULL has quit the touring stage production of WILLIAM BURROUGHS play THE BLACK RIDER, suffering from exhaustion.

The show, directed by ROBERT WILSON, has travelled to Sydney, Australia without the 58-year-old actress/singer - who is recovering in Paris, where The Black Rider has just closed.

Her role, PEG LEG/THE DEVIL, will be taken by NIGEL RICHARDS, who acted as Faithful's understudy when the show toured America.

The change may suit some theatregoers down under - critics in the US were kinder of Richards' performance than the Brits were of the homegrown Faithfull.

Of her debut at London's Barbican Theatre, one reviewer sniped, "Wilson shot himself in the for casting the glazed, maladroit Faithfull." However, the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE raved of Richards, "Nigel Richards is so incredible it's hard to picture anyone else doing the role."