Is it still safe to go to the theatre?
WEST END actors are threatening to boycott Britain’s crumbling theatres after part of a ceiling collapsed on to audience members for the second time in recent years.
Several people were hurt on Wednesday evening when a “huge chunk” of plasterboard came loose at the Piccadilly Theatre during a performance of Death of A Salesman.
Witnesses reported a “slight dripping sound” followed by “lots of screams” as a section of the ceiling came crashing down.
The theatre was evacuated and hundreds of people were forced on to the street while four were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive and the council visited the 91-year-old theatre yesterday as wider concern grew that dilapidated venues may be putting audiences and actors at risk.
Matt Hood, assistant general secretary of the actors’ union Equity, suggested performers would refuse to work unless safety was guaranteed.
“Equity members should not be working in unsafe venues,” he said.
“This is not negotiable. The union will meet with theatre managers as a priority to ensure our members’ welfare.”
Six years ago, 79 people were injured when the part of the Apollo Theatre collapsed during a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.
An investigation later concluded that the theatre’s plaster ceiling had been deteriorating for decades.
The exact cause of the Piccadilly collapse has not yet been established, although investigators believe it may have been linked to ongoing building work. A picture from the scene showed a large hole, about three-metres wide, with wires protruding.
Sources at Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns the Piccadilly, insisted the ceiling was not made of the same “fibrous plaster” material blamed for the Apollo collapse, and had passed a safety inspection in February.
After the Apollo collapse in 2013, new safety guidance was issued to playhouses across the country by the Association of British Theatre Technicians.
Footage emerged yesterday of the actor Wendell Pierce, who plays the lead role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, talking to the public outside the Piccadilly.
He said: “We apologise and we’re glad that no one’s hurt. So, as of now, turn to your loved ones and friends to the left and right, and say, ‘Which pub are we going to?”
The Young Vic theatre announced it will host the show over the weekend.