Ceiling Collapses During Performance of Death of a Salesman at London's Piccadilly Theatre

London's Piccadilly Theatre was evacuated during a performance of Death of a Salesman on November 6 after part of the theater's ceiling crashed down. Paramedics were called to the West End venue.

"We are sorry to confirm that at 8:00pm this evening during a performance at the Piccadilly Theatre a section of plasterboard fell from the rear upper circle," said venue owner Ambasador Theatre Group in a statement released last night. "The performance was immediately stopped and the theater safely evacuated. Five members of the audience sustained minor injuries and were taken to local hospitals."

Early this morning, ATG released an updated statement: "Following an incident at our Piccadilly Theatre last night, tonight's performance is canceled. We are ascertaining the extent of the situation, and will be providing an update on future performances as soon as possible."

A more recent statement from ATG reads, "Following the incident at the Piccadilly Theatre last night (Wednesday 6 November 2019), the production of Death of a Salesman will go ahead with three special, scratch performances of the play at the Young Vic Theatre. These will take place tomorrow night, Friday 8 November, and a matinee and evening performance on Saturday 9 November. The performances at the Piccadilly Theatre for the rest of the week have been canceled."

Wendell Pierce, who stars in the production as Willy Loman, added the following statement: "First, I hope those injured last night in the incident are recovered and healing. Their well-being is the most important thing. I am also so grateful that the Death of a Salesman company is able to continue performances of Arthur Miller's great play. The nightly audience response has been overwhelming, and I would like to thank the Young Vic for enabling us to continue on this special journey. In the time-honored tradition of the theater, the show must go on."

Update:

On November 9, ATG shared the following statement: "We're sorry that the incident that occurred on Wednesday night at the Piccadilly Theatre has caused concern and disappointment to a number theatergoers. We want to thank our audiences, cast, staff, the emergency services, the theater community and the authorities for their support following the incident.

Our initial internal investigation has concluded that a section of plasterboard came away as a result of a localized water leak.

We have been working very closely with Westminster City Council and we are confident that they will deem the theater safe for use and grant permission to reopen to the public on Monday, provided the affected area is covered and off-limits until repairs are completed. We continue to offer all of our support to the Council's investigation.

Accordingly, we are delighted to announce that it is our intention to resume performances on Monday, 11th November. The Council will be undertaking a final inspection of the blocked-off area on Monday afternoon to ensure that there is no risk of the audience accessing the area or any other safety concerns. We therefore ask all customers to check this website after 4pm on Monday for final confirmation that the evening's performance is going ahead. Any customers who have booked seats in the affected area for periods in which repairs will be underway will be reallocated to seats in unaffected parts of the theater or offered to exchange their tickets for a later date.

All our venues are inspected annually, in compliance with safety regulations and the Piccadilly Theatre last underwent a stringent annual safety check in February 2019. The Piccadilly Theatre is also currently undergoing a multimillion-pound modernization and improvement program."

Co-directors Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell's new staging of Arthur Miller's drama, which co-stars Sharon D. Clarke as Linda Loman, officially opened at the Piccadilly on November 4 following a mounting at the Young Vic. The production is currently scheduled to continue through January 4, 2020.

The incident at the Piccadilly follows a 2013 event at the West End's Apollo Theatre, where the ceiling collapsed during a performance of the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

The next show booked into the Piccadilly is the London transfer of Pretty Woman: The Musical, which is scheduled to begin performances on Valentine's Day 2020.