Event Article

In last Thursday's performance of Macbeth, the character Macduff Ueff Lange) was struck in the head by a sword during the final fight scene.

During the scene in which Macduff was to fight Macbeth (Patrick Dall'Occhio), one sword was accidentally misdirected, causing the other sword to slice through Lange's scalp.

The scene called for heavy fighting and during the first fight one of the swords broke in two.

"My initial sword was broken so we had to find replacement swords. In the apprehension of using new swords we were a little more anxious and movingmuch faster than anticipated," Lange said.

"The fight scenes require much precision and accuracy. We are trained by a professional. Because we were moving so fast, I failed to put the sword in the proper block mode and when Macbeth went to do a head cut, the force of the blow was too intense and it struck my head," he added.

Lange continued the show and attended the curtain call despite blood flowing from his wound.

He was rushed over to a local emergency room after the performance.

Hair had to be removed from Lange's skull so that the eight staples could be placed, suturing the wound.

During the performance,Lange wore hair clips, but because of the strain they put on his wound, they had be to replaced with a full wig. Director of Macbeth, Chuck Ketter felt everything went as planned except for the amount of excitement toward the opening night of the performance.

"The particular fight scene, when it occurred, happened as planned, except in the last scene the actor failed to place the sword in the proper block form. The initial impact of the sword was blocked but the residual impact could not be held back," said Ketter.

The actors had already done two performances for high school students and they were feeling anxious on their opening night for the general public.

Bob Jensen, director of the upcoming re-make of Roosters, felt the actors were filled with excitement the night of that particular performance because of the sequence of events.

"With the sword breaking, and the first real night of their performance, the actors were impulsive and filled with adrenaline.

"They were moving so quick they just failed to follow proper form on one occasion," Jensen said.

In case Lange was unable to perform, Ketter would step in as Macduff and finish off Saturday's performance.

"Me(Ketter) stepping in as Macduff was contingent on whether or not Jeff would be able to return to the stage.

"Jeff was having severe headaches along with everything else so.I asked him to iinform me on Friday whether he would be able to perform on Saturday," Ketter said.

Lange did return for the performance and continued through the rest of the run.