Sad news tonight, as an accident on the set of ACTC's production of Sweeney Todd has apparently forced the cancellation of the remaining shows this weekend.
My information comes from a second-hand source (so if I have anything wrong here, please correct me), but from what I'm told a staircase that was part of the set collapsed Thursday night while cast members were posing for a photograph. Thankfully, the only injuries were minor ones.
But as a result, college officials decided to shut down the production. It must have been a tough decision - a lot of work goes into a show, after all - but the safety of the cast and crew has to come first.
This story just reinforces the importance of safety on the stage. The potential for bad things to happen is always there - you're working with temporary sets, moving pieces of scenery, other actors, low (or no) lighting - there's always the chance of a stumble, and there have been other shows where actors got hurt (or could have been hurt) when a section of a set gave way.
Try though every theatre group does to make the stage a safe place, there's always an element of danger. Kudos to ACTC for putting safety first.
The famous theatre saying is, "The show must go on," but there are exceptions - and this is one of them.
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