Props are important. Screw them up, and someone could die.
An actor at the Vienna National Theatre slit his own throat in front of a packed house when the fake prop knife he was supposed to have was accidentally switched for a real knife.
During a scene from Friedrich Schiller`s play `Mary Stuart` by Hamburg-based Thalia Theatre company at Vienna National theatre, act five, the starring actor, 30-year-old Daniel Hoebels was supposed to have picked up a knife and committed suicide.
He slit his throat and blood started oozing, Austrian media report. Hoevels managed to drag himself backstage and was rushed to hospital. The audience never noticed a thing and the rest of the company continued with the play. Doctors determined Daniel had cut his skin and tissue. They stitched his wound and sent him back to his hotel.
The 37 year-old props mistress is not believed to have intentionally placed the real knife on stage. An inquest is continuing. Doctors stated that if the cut had been any deeper, the actor may have died.
Updated: The MailOnline also has a report. It claims that the knife may have been the intended prop knife, but had never gotten dulled down prior to the performance.
To those who don’t do props, and/or look down on the props department: getting and running props is difficult. Don’t ever think otherwise.
Hudson & Gaines
