Monday, October 11, 2021
Bolshoi Theatre performer killed in accident on stage during opera
CNN: A performer at Moscow's renowned Bolshoi Theatre was killed on Saturday in an accident on stage during an opera.
The Bolshoi, one of Russia's most prestigious theaters, said the incident occurred during a set change in Sadko, an opera by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This is one of those article titles that you dread seeing but can’t help yourself from reading as if it will prevent you from ever having to deal with this situation first hand. The pictures included in this article are also a little awful. Surely the blurred spot is not the body of the performer? But it is a little scary that those pictures were provided but the providers refused to comment on the redacted material. As a stage manager, this would be one of the worst situations to have to deal with. It sounds like they were able to calmly end the show and ask the audience to leave. I also found it interesting that the article that someone was quoted saying that the actor “went the wrong way.” This is a conversation that stage managers talk about with regards to tacking blocking. This would be one of the main defenses that the theatre would have in this situation. If the actor did in deed “go the wrong way,” the blocking will be the documentation to prove that. Even so, there isn’t much detail on if the scenery was manually moved or automation. Surely there was someone responsible for being a look out?
This is a worst case scenario for any show. I feel like we often talk about how theater is not life or death or rocket science, but this is one of those humbling moments where we need to recognize the danger of some of the things we routinely do. With no details on the incident, I can not really say who would be at fault or if any precautions were ignored during the scene change that lead to this performer’s death. I am disturbed that CNN was unable to verify what the blur on the photo is covering. I hope there will be an investigation that will uncover what could be done to prevent this kind of accident. I feel like set pieces do not typically come in fast enough that someone standing under it would not notice and have time to move, nor do I think an operator normally ignores any action on stage while brining a line set in, so I am curious to see how this incident occurred.
Wow this is so incredibly tragic. My heart goes out to the family and the company fir their loss. I bet the safety laws and practices in Russia about things like this are very different than we have in the US, but I do wonder what exactly they are. Did they have someone whose job is was to watch the scenery descending and make sure no one is there. Was a rehearsal that was needed at some point that could have helped prevent that actor from going the wrong direction, or was it simply just a tragic tragic accident. I wonder if this theatre put any more safety practices in place since the orchestra member died a few years ago. I can imagine that this is not something the theatre wanted to go through more than once. And now I wonder what, if any, more safety measures they will be applying to their shows after this tragedy
It is not very often that you hear about a performer or crew member dying on stage during rehearsals or even performances. In general, it seems like theater does a pretty good job ensuring safe operation of all scenery. From spotters during major automated or manual moves to people on fire watch for something as small as a candle, theater as a whole as absolutely worked to make it a safe space. That being said, there are a lot of things we do in theater that are inherently dangerous. In my eyes, most of this involves more of the production side of things including elements of load in, run and strike, however, I know performers are asked to put themselves in precarious situations as well. With all this, it is absolutely terrible to hear about events like these. Although they are very tragic they absolutely will serve as learning experiences for many.
I have a friend who was invited to study at the Bolshoi Ballet at the young age of 14. I know, impressive. When she came back she told us stories of these incredibly elaborate productions she witnessed. I was jealous, to say the least. However, it wasn’t until later, when we were talking about her experience in Russia, that she began to speak about the agony she felt while studying there. Accidents at the Bolshoi are not uncommon. As the article points out, just a few years back “a senior violinist died after falling into the orchestra pit”. So, in reading this article “for a class,” I believe the main lesson or take-away to be that of safety always being the production’s number one priority. Producing a show is not worth it if the cast and crew risk their lives every night carrying out the producer’s vision. And just as my friend stated, dancers in ballet are pushed to their limits. Oftentimes resulting in severe injuries outside of a scene change failure.
Post a Comment