Man taken ill during National Theatre performance

Last night’s National Theatre opening of Harley Granville Barker’s Waste, a classic Edwardian play of political scandal and idealism, was disrupted by an audience member being taken seriously ill five minutes from the end.

As the last scene drew to a close, a loud cry went up from the second or third row at the front of the stalls and a white-haired, elderly man collapsed. The actors, apparently oblivious, continued for a minute or so before a stage manager halted the performance.

There was an appeal for a doctor and the house manager asked the audience to stay in their seats while the man was attended to.

The NT’s artistic director, Rufus Norris, left the auditorium and returned a few minutes later to tell the critics in his immediate vicinity that the man was conscious and the play would continue once an ambulance had arrived.

The house manager then said that the man’s family, who were with him, had requested that the performance should continue while he lay there.

The show continued to the end, the actors took their bow, and the audience applauded, while the man still lay on the floor.

Paramedics arrived once the show had finished.

In a statement, the National Theatre have said:

During the final scene of Waste last night, a gentleman in the audience was taken ill. The performance was stopped after an announcement by the stage manager, an ambulance called and the gentleman was immediately attended by two doctors in the audience and the NT’s in-house medical staff. A paramedic from the emergency services arrived after 10 minutes and also treated the gentleman. After another 10 minutes, in consultation and agreement with the paramedics and the gentleman’s family, the performance resumed for its final four minutes while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. The gentleman was taken to hospital after the performance.

We are very grateful to the medical and emergency teams for their swift expertise, especially the doctors in the audience who assisted; our thanks also to the audience, cast, stage management and staff for their calm understanding and patience. Above all, we send our very best wishes to the poor gentleman for his recovery; we’ll keep in touch with his family.