Actor Accidentally Cuts Own Throat On Stage As Cops Ponder Possible Murder Plot
Posted December 11, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was a scene worthy of an Oscar or a Tony Award.
An actor picks up a knife onstage during the climactic moments of a play, puts it to his throat and appears to use the blade to cut himself, as blood spurts all over the floor. He collapses in agony, a performance so convincing that the audience rises to its feet and begins cheering the incredible acting acumen of the star.
It’s the scenario that played out at a theatre in Vienna Saturday night, as a major production about Mary Queen of Scots was enacted before a huge and appreciative crowd.
But there’s just one thing wrong with this work of fiction – in this case, the performance was real.
Actor Daniel Hoevels was supposed to be using a fake knife to conclude his dramatic scene in the show. But the prop turned out to the real thing and the leading man found himself in the middle of a real life emergency right in the middle of his role.
He’d accidentally cut his own throat and managed to drag himself offstage, as help was summoned. And in the great tradition of the show must go on, the audience never realized anything had happened until the star failed to come back for an encore bow.
The 30-year-old just missed his carotid artery with the sharp blade and was able to reach medical aid in time.
But now police are looking into the bizarre incident, and wondering if it was an accident or an attempted murder. It turns out there’s some animosity amongst the theatre crowd for Hoevels, who’s popular in Austria and Germany and frequently lands lead roles at the expense of other actors.
Cops are now taking DNA from other cast and crew members to see if they replaced the fake knife with the real thing. The weapon in question was apparently purchased at a local store and still had its price tag on it. But how it got onto that stage and whether the incident was an accident or not remains a mystery.
The victim managed to recover enough to get back to his role on Sunday night, sporting a huge bandage around his neck. Reports indicate that before taking on his final scene, he first double checked the prop to make sure it wasn’t the real thing.
It’s a plot worthy of a play itself, but so far, this real life drama doesn’t have an ending.
