PROPS: Actor Cuts throat on Vienna Stage - BBC News

[ReyYaySM]

A colleague just sent me the the link to this story about an actor who cut his throat when his prop knife was replaced by a real knife.  The actor ultimately survived and even went on the next night.  Read the complete story here.  A frightening wake-up call and reminder of the importance of checking props and of securing stage weapons.  

[kiwiholly]

Wow! How scary! I'm glad he is more or less ok! :O

[ewharton]

That's really scary. I'm certainly going to check every weapon, every performance from now on.

[MatthewShiner]

Wasn't that in the final episode of OZ?

The Props person should have checked.
The Deck SM should have checked.
The Actor should have checked.

[Thespi620]

That is so scary! Adding a 'double check weapons=fake' box to all of my preshow lists from now on!

I have a hard time believing that one of the three people Matthew mentioned *didn't* check and realize it was not a prop...I wonder if it was switched right before the scene, or were their props/deck people & the actor all scatterbrained on the same day?

[KMC]

Precisely why weapons should be supervised at all times.  During a show I asm-ed there was a revolver loaded with 9mm blanks that were to be fired off stage.  There were no real bullets anywhere near the theatre, however the gun was only ever kept in two places.  In a locked box backstage, to which only myself and the SM had a key, or in the holster on my hip immediately before and after the sequence. 

[sarahbear42]

Wow, a sick part of me wants to post that article underneath every sign backstage that says "check your props"...

[Amie]

Wow, a sick part of me wants to post that article underneath every sign backstage that says "check your props"...

We learn best from other people's mistakes and experiences.  Plus, the fear factor is okay to use, in these situations. It makes checking these sort of props a priority rather than a "it will be fine, it's fake afterall" sort of casual mentality.

[LCSM]

I saw that article the other day and it gave me the shivers, I just kept reading it and thinking about the murder tv shows like CSI. I'm definately going to send it round to all my actors, maybe then they'll appreciate just how important props are!

[Sarah]

From the story...

"The knife even still had the price tag on it," one officer said.

Really? And no one noticed it wasn't the prop?

[BLee]

My father actually called me the day this story was on CNN to congratulate me on a directing gig I got at our student theatre on campus and told me he thought of me when he heard this story. His reasoning was because he imagined an SM being in deep trouble for not catching that issue.

Personally I don't understand why a true stage prop knife was not being used, but it sounds like they dull real knives for use on stage. Why this knife had to be replaced mid-run and no one bothered to properly prepare it before setting it on the props table is beyond me. I don't buy into the conspiracy and murder plots that were circulating around on this story. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of people getting too comfortable with a show.

I had fun telling a huge portion of the actors I work with this story and ended with the phrase "...and that is why you always check your props before the house opens." Many a time I've had actors come in right at half hour as the house is being opened and they end up checking their props in the dark. Some props you can do that with, but you can easily miss important details when you aren't able to really look over your props.

[sarahbear42]

Personally I don't understand why a true stage prop knife was not being used, but it sounds like they dull real knives for use on stage. Why this knife had to be replaced mid-run and no one bothered to properly prepare it before setting it on the props table is beyond me. I don't buy into the conspiracy and murder plots that were circulating around on this story. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of people getting too comfortable with a show.

The tag line on the article says "An actor narrowly escaped death after slashing his throat on stage with a real knife, instead of a blunt stage-prop blade."

I agree though that the murder plot thing is a little far fetched. My personal theory is that someone who didn't know what they were doing lost/broke the knife, and ran to the store to get a new one so s/he wouldn't get in trouble. Does anyone know if there's been any followup articles on this?

and edit: Found the article you were refering to that explains what happened, if anyone else is interested in more info: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/10/daniel-hoevels-actor-slit_n_150114.html

Geez, how stupid.

[katykat29]

This as always a frightening reminder.  I almost slit my wrist the "right way" demonstrating with a blade that I had personally dulled.    Needless to say, I was back at the machine shop the next day.