Work accident? Pah! Cate's show must go on


For the most part, here in our personal injury solicitor's office, the work accidents we research and investigate are of the industrial variety, with the odd smattering of workers who have tripped on uneven surfaces in their workplace corridor or fallen from a badly adjusted ladder, perhaps. In factories there are many crush injuries caused by failure to properly secure heavy machinery and sadly, fatalities on construction sites are all too common due to breaches of various health and safety regulations.

So, it is with some relish (and perhaps a tiny amount of ghoulishness) that we covet the reports of work accidents in the realms of stage and screen, especially where the great and the good of the acting profession are injured (although not too seriously is best). And it was almost with glee that I read about Cate Blanchett, the Australian superstar of such masterpieces as Elizabeth and The Aviator who recently suffered for her art when she was struck on the head during a stage performance at the Sydney Theatre Company - which, unlike the old adage of "the show must go on", brought the play to a halt and, alas, the stage went prematurely dark.

The play in question was written by a hero of mine and although the film production of A Streetcar Named Desire was predominantly known for the bearing of Marlon Brando's chest and Vivien Leigh's parting utterance, "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers", Tennessee Williams dark and brooding piece of poetic theatre remains as saleable a commodity today as it was in 1951; with major revivals currently running in London (Rachel Weisz in the part of Blanche) and Sydney, Australia, where Ms Blanchett takes the major role.

But, the indomitable actress had to truly suffer when a piece of action from the play turned into a real-life pain-filled incident - with blood an' all folks - during a preview performance of the classic work. According to eye-witness statements her co-star was supposed to throw a radio out of a window, but the prop slipped in his hand and struck Ms Blanchett on the head. Within moments the actress was bleeding noticeably from the wound, though she stoically acted on. When she finally left the stage, the play was halted and the audience was told that due to technical difficulties it would not resume.

A ha, I thought… would Ms Blanchett be making a personal injury compensation claim against her co-star, or perhaps against the theatre production company? Or would the column inches she received in the worldwide press be recompense enough for a "minor blow to the head" – as a theatre spokesman described it.

But, no, it turns out that Ms Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, are joint artistic directors for the theatre company and so, my guess is that there will be no claim made regarding the work accident and yes, in the very near future, the show will go on, daaarling!


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