Taron Egerton has reassured fans after he “passed out” on stage during his first performance of new play Cock.
The Rocketman actor was appearing opposite Jonathan Bailey in the first preview of Mike Bartlett’s 2009 play on Saturday (5 March) when he collapsed mid-performance at the Ambassadors Theatre.
According to audience members, the safety curtain was lowered, with director Marianne Elliott coming back out after 40 minutes to tell the audience that Egerton was doing OK. The show then continued for the remaining 15 minutes, with Egerton’s understudy Joel Harper-Jackson stepping into his role.
Writing on Instagram Stories on Sunday (6 March), Egerton said that he was “completely fine” after the incident.
“As some of you may have heard, I passed out during the first performance of Cock last night,” he wrote. “I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego but I’m fine.”
Egerton then joked: “I’ve decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn’t handle it and checked out.
“That being said, apparently you’re meant to do the full show and not just three quarters of it. So I’ll be back with a vengeance tomorrow night.”
He went on to thank his “amazing” castmates and members of the production team, as well as Harper-Jackson.
Cock follows a gay couple who are rocked when one of them falls in love with a woman (played here by Jade Anouka).
It marks Egerton’s West End debut.
