According to the Daily Mail, a West End auditorium had to be evacuated last night after a chunk of ceiling fell on to the crowd.
Five audience members suffered minor injuries in the incident at the 91-year-old Piccadilly Theatre, which occurred just 20 minutes into a performance of The Death Of A Salesman.
Emergency services were called to the theatre shortly before 8pm, and the Metropolitan Police said a “few” people had suffered minor injuries and that emergency services remained on scene.
Witnesses described hearing screams from the Upper Circle spectators, and also described hearing a “slight dripping sound in the [Grand] Circle and people were looking around, wondering what was happening, but the play carried on.
‘As the minutes passed, the dripping become more frequent and it sounded like more water was coming through the ceiling, causing a few people to get up and move.
‘The sound eventually got so loud that we stood up and started to leave, as we were wondering what was going to happen.
Then, as we stood up, this huge chunk of ceiling, about three to four metres across, crashed down.”
Actor Wendell Pierce apologised to those who had been forced to leave the performance, which had been transferred to the West End from the Young Vic this week.
Tonight’s show has been cancelled while the ceiling is inspected and made safe for the public to return.
Image credit: Daily Mail
