‘Substantial’ payout for actor blinded in Donmar Stage duel

An award-winning actor who was blinded in one eye in a stage duel has won "substantial" damages.

David Birrell, 47, took legal action after a blank-firing revolver he was using at London’s Donmar Warehouse misfired and he lost the sight in his right eye.

The accident happened three years ago during a performance of the Stephen Sondheim musical Passion co-starring Scarlett Strallen. The show was cancelled for several days while Mr Birrell recovered in hospital.

In papers lodged at the High Court last year, lawyers argued his eye had been left “shrunken and unsightly” and he was now forced to wear a “cosmetic shell” to disguise his appearance. There was also “scarring and distortion” which meant “the overall effect is of marked asymmetry to the upper half of Mr Birrell’s face”.

The lawyers added in the claim, which sought £250,000 damages, that he had undergone counselling but the injury left him at “a disadvantage on the labour market”. It has now been revealed that “substantial” damages were paid earlier this year to settle the legal action.

Mr Birrell, from south London, issued a statement thanking actors’ union Equity for helping him win compensation and said that without their support “I could never have hoped to fight this difficult, lengthy and complex case in the way we did. The positive outcome is down to the backing and security their involvement gave me.”

He previously worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at venues including the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, and has since returned to work. He has been starring in the title role of Sweeney Todd at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Manchester Royal Exchange, in what critics hailed as the performance of a lifetime.

A spokesman for the Donmar said their “priority throughout has been and continues to be David Birrell’s welfare”.