London Theater’s Ceiling Breaks, Falls on Audience
TheaterWorld
November 8, 2019
Olivia Perreault 0
An audience was enjoying a show at the Piccadilly Theatre in London yesterday when part of the ceiling collapsed.
Death of a Salesman, featuring U.S. actor Wendell Pierce, was playing at the venue. According to BBC, those in the audience reportedly heard “dripping sounds indicating water was coming through the ceiling.” When the ceiling caved in, people were injured by the debris and over 1,000 were evacuated. Four people were taken to the hospital and five were treated on scene by paramedics.
Those who were on the scene shared their experience on Twitter.
Ceiling came down half way through performance of death of a salesman at the #Piccadilly#theatre. Started with some dripping that increased in rate until it all caved in. pic.twitter.com/ZuoRmszrmZ
— Theo Carter (@TJ_SC) November 6, 2019
Mad scenes at the Piccadilly Theatre rn pic.twitter.com/mo582sj4aZ
— Tee (@Tvnzim) November 6, 2019
Safe and sound and out of the Piccadilly Theatre thanks to the swift and super speedy evacuation by all staff @TeamPiccadilly. Super work! Couldn’t work out for a moment what the heck was falling on my head! thanks also to @WendellPierce
— Emma York (@EmmaYork88) November 6, 2019
Well that was eventful- the ceiling at the Piccadilly Theatre fell in whilst watching #DeathOfASalesman. Incredibly efficient evacuation by the staff & very excited to hear @WendellPierce up close but sad not to see the play. Hopefully no one injured pic.twitter.com/iXPLDZpupV
— Helen Berresford (@HelenBerresford) November 6, 2019
Performances throughout the rest of the week at the Piccadilly Theatre were cancelled. Instead, three special performances of the play will take place at the Young Vic theatre tonight, followed by a matinee and evening show tomorrow, November 9. The Ambassador Theatre Group said that the organization is “ascertaining the extent of the situation, and will be providing an update on future performances as soon as possible.”
Pierce apologized to fans who were injured in a statement, noting that “their wellbeing is the most important thing.”
“The nightly audience response has been overwhelming, and I would like to thank the Young Vic for enabling us to continue on this special journey,” he said. “In the time-honored tradition of the theatre, the show must go on.”