Kevin Spacey suddenly pulled out of a production at London’s Old Vic, which he has run for the past year. And ticket-buyers, who had gobbled up £1.2 million worth of ducats “for the cash-strapped Old Vic – a figure almost unprecedented for a straight play in the West End – are unhappy. Still, “espite his critically unsuccessful first season on the South Bank, with unenthusiastic or bad reviews for the first two plays he staged, Cloaca and National Anthems, a recent poll suggests that his support remains solid.”