Actor shot on stage... but the show must go on

An actor has been praised by his co-stars for completing his performance after being shot in the face accidentally while on stage.

David Birrell, 35, suffered injuries to his right eye during a matinee of Stephen Sondheim's Passion at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. He was taken to hospital by ambulance after the show.

Birrell, who plays Colonel Ricci, was shot by a blank-firing gun after his character challenges another to a duel. David Thaxton, who plays Giorgio, said: "I thought David hurt himself. I assumed it was the heat from the gun. I didn't realise it was his eye. He fell to the ground in a way that he could come off stage without the audience realising. That's what we're trained to do.

"It was only after we came off stage that we found there had been an accident. I've never known anything like this to happen. It must be a freak accident."

He called Birrell a "complete professional", adding: "Though he was in pain, he was making jokes and being his humorous self when he came off stage." The Donmar said it was investigating and had cancelled the show from today to Wednesday. Refunds are available.