Sir Ian McKellen is reportedly set to make a "full recovery" after suffering a dramatic fall during a performance of Player Kings at the Noël Coward Theatre in London.
The 85-year-old stumbled during an intense fighting scene which caused him to fall off the stage and shout out in pain for help, before being rushed to hospital.
The incident occurred during a battle sequence between his character, John Falstaff, and the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy.
McKellen lost his footing and stumbled forward off the stage and into the front row of the audience, the house lights were quickly brought up and the actor could be heard crying out in pain.
Theatre staff and medical personnel promptly attended to the actor, with the audience being evacuated from the arena and told that the rest of the show was cancelled - with their tickets being refunded.
A representative for the theatre noted that McKellen is expected to make a full and speedy recovery and is not badly injured.
They told the Metro: "Thank you to our audience and the general public for their well wishes following Ian’s fall during this evening’s performance of Player Kings.
"Following a scan, the brilliant NHS team have assured us that he will make a speedy and full recovery and Ian is in good spirits. The production has made the decision to cancel the performance on Tuesday, June 18 so Ian can rest.
"Those affected will be contacted by their point of purchase as soon as possible tomorrow. Thank you to doctors Rachel and Lee who were on hand in the audience and to all the venue staff for their support."
McKellen is expected to next appear in Wednesday’s matinee performance of the production.
Audience member Zack McCann discussed the incident and gave a first-hand account of what happened, revealing to the same publication: "It was pretty awful to see!
"Close to the end of Act One there is a fight scene between Prince Hal and Hotspur and Falstaff (Sir Ian’s character) comes onstage. During the fight, Sir Ian looked to have tripped and fell into the first row.
"As he called out for help, the cast came to help him and the lights came up. The staff at the Noel Coward Theatre were wonderful and lept into action to attend to him, and evacuated the theatre.
"[They] made sure to let us know quickly that they were waiting on an ambulance and would be cancelling the remainder of the show."
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McCann added that while he wasn’t close enough to see the specifics of the injuries McKellen sustained, he was "definitely crying out in pain."
Several of the audience members who witnessed the event took to social media to share their experience of the harrowing moment.
