Actor killed by scenery at Bolshoi theatre Moscow.

[adam2]

Various reports state.

 

Early reports implied some mechanical failure that caused scenery "to fall" Later reports imply that the scenery was being lowered in a controlled way as was intended, but that the actor "went in the wrong direction" and into the path of the descending scenery and was trapped under the descending scenery.

The victim was crushed, and despite efforts made by persons nearby, and the prompt arrival of ambulance personnel, could not be saved.

 

Very sad indeed.

 

news report Please be aware that these are early reports and later reports may give more detail.

Edited October 10, 2021 by adam2

[dje]

Many years ago I was a flyman for a receiving venue with a powered fly system, we had a show come in with very poor stage management and a clearly under-rehearsed cast. People were running in all directions and the stage management were contributing to that problem, not reducing it. It was total pandemonium on stage. And in addition to that, there were a number of high speed scene changes where things had to fly in and out, fast. In a show which was just over 100 minutes long, the record was the E-Stop being used (as an E-Stop, not as a disable-whilst-I-go-for-a-wee) 14 times.

 

I think it's a topic we often think we don't need to talk about... but we actually do. Flying safety in shows. I think it's become an accepted practice that we can fly things in to a populated stage, on the premise that rehearsal ensures people are not under it when it comes in. My personal inclination has always been that it's not enough... I do appreciate that track record disagrees with me. Then some shows do agree to have spotters on the deck, which is great - but to keep costs down, the shows will often then expect the spotters to carry ASM responsibilities. Meaning the spotter isn't actually spotting when they're meant to be - they're dealing with all the various nonsense ASMs are subjected to on top of their show jobs.

 

I'm sure this will be unpopular opinion but I genuinely believe that it either needs to change or change will be pushed onto us by the HSE, after the incident.