'Hurricane' kicks out drunk

The star of the hit West End play Hurricane waded into the audience last night to hurl out a drunk who had been raucously laughing and giggling to himself at all the wrong moments.

The incident happened halfway through the performance of the sellout play based on the rise and fall of snooker legend Alex "Hurricane" Higgins at the Soho Theatre.

Higgins himself was a legendary drinker and the irony was not lost on some audience members who applauded wildly when Richard Dormer returned to the stage having sorted out the problem.

Dormer had become irritated when the man, sitting close to the stage, kept talking loudly, guffawing at the top of his lungs and giggling.

Having had enough of this distraction, Belfast-born Dormer, the young actor who also wrote the play, stopped his one-man performance and shouted to the individual: "Will you effing-well shut up."

He then leapt from the stage and pushed the man up the exit staircase, aided by his wife Rachel O'Riordan, who directs the play. Dormer, 28, then returned to the stage to an outburst of applause from the audience and continued with his performance as Hurricane.

At the end of the play he was moved to tears when he received a standing ovation.

Dormer received a best actor award at the Edinburgh Festival last year and the production of Hurricane is shortly to go on a provincial tour following its success at the Soho.

Among those in the audience last night who witnessed the skirmish were theatre director Sir Peter Hall and Oscar-winning film producer Norma Heyman, who was responsible for Dangerous Liaisons and Buster.

After his performance, Dormer was heard to say: "I've never had to do that ever before but it had to be done because the man was becoming such a distraction during the play."