Opening Night Operatics at King’s Head???

The world premiere of a new opera directed by ‘in-yer-face’ playwright Mark Ravenhill proved too much for one front row audience member on opening night (12 April 2011), who collapsed after a cast member enacted slashing his wrists on stage. The Coronation of Poppea is being staged in the round at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington and the bloody death scene was performed immediately in front of the woman – and in full view of the assembled critics. The woman’s daughter told staff she thought she’d suffered a stroke, so an ambulance was called and two arrived within minutes.

“It certainly heightened the drama of the evening,” said Kevin Wilson,
the show’s publicist.”Thankfully the woman was OK – just hated the
sight of blood – and insisted she wanted to return for act two … I warned her that there was much more blood to come at
the climax to the opera – and she readily agreed to swap seats
in the full auditorium and move to the safety of the back row.” The Coronation of Poppea continues until 19 May.