Student Actors’ Throats Cut in Performance of Sweeney Todd
A school performance of Sweeney Todd turned into a real-life horror show earlier this week when two of the student actors accidentally had their throats cut, the New Zealand Herald reports.
Two razors were bought from an antique shop to be used in the play, which was being performed in the secondary school St Kentigern College, Auckland, on April 6th. Duct tape was used to cover the sharp edges, but clearly it wasn’t enough, with one boy sustaining a severe neck injury. Another young man received a slightly less serious, though still pretty nasty, injury; and both needed hospital treatment.
The scene had been performed “many times” since January, including eight dress rehearsals where the prop was used, according to St Kentigern head Steve Cole. Cole said he hoped the rest of the show’s run would still ruin – “without those particular props.” He added, “It was an unfortunate isolated incident.” The prop was covered “in all sorts of duct tape and foam and silver paper. It was a razor that you would expect to see in a production of Sweeney Todd. But it didn’t have a sharp edge. I’m very confident that the health and safety situation was strong.”
Thankfully, both boys have recovered and have likely been discharged. Don’t worry… they won’t be turned into meat pies.
I guess the main thing to take away from this is to be sensible when it comes to productions and to double-check all the health and safety elements. And not to be fucking stupid and try to cover a razor blade with duct tape.
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