Image caption Merchant's work also includes An Idiot Abroad and Extras

West End play The Mentalists, starring comedian and The Office writer Stephen Merchant, is to close one month earlier than planned on 29 August.

Producers said the decision to close was due to "a challenging post-summer period," The Stage reported.

The play, which opened on 13 July at Wyndham's Theatre, was due to run until 26 September.

It was written by Richard Bean, whose hit farce One Man, Two Guvnors transferred to Broadway in 2012.

Merchant stars opposite Steffan Rhodri in the darkly comic two-hander as an angry, frustrated middle-manager, Ted, who wants to create his own utopian society.

In a statement about the early closure, producers told The Stage: "It has been a great joy bringing The Mentalists into the West End this summer, however we have had to take the very difficult but prudent decision, based on a challenging post-summer period, to reduce the run to nine weeks.

Mixed reviews

"We wish to thank the cast, creative team and crew for all of their dedication, humour and hard work in creating a production which we are immensely proud of."

When asked by the BBC earlier this month if this role could lead to more stage acting, Merchant said: "I think my experience of this is going to feed back into my writing.

"But at the moment I'm so tired. It's exhausting. It's basically people on stage shouting. So I won't be able to tell you that until I've finished the run.

"Don't expect my Macbeth anytime soon."

The play, which first played at the National Theatre 13 years ago, received mixed reviews from theatre critics.

Writing in The Observer, Susannah Clapp wrote: "Neither Stephen Merchant nor Steffan Rhodri can elevate Richard Bean's two-hander above the level of whimsy."

But the Guardian's Michael Billington gave the play three stars, as did Dominic Cavendish, writing in The Telegraph, who said the play was "well worth a look".

But Cavendish also took aim at the ticket prices: "I hate to carp about West End ticket prices but £96.75 to see Stephen Merchant making his theatrical debut in a revival of a 2002 two-hander by Richard ('One Man, Two Guvnors') Bean? Are they out of their minds?!"

The Independent's Paul Taylor gave the production four stars and wrote that Merchant had made an "impressive West End debut".