The Coronation of Poppea Causes Audience-member To Faint

The world premiere of a new opera production directed by directed by controversial Britrish playwright Mark Ravenhill (who wrote Shopping and F**king) proved too much for one front row audience member who collapsed as one of the actors slashed his wrists last night.

The Coronation of Poppea is being staged in the round with a large pool in the floor and the bloody death was staged immediately in front of her at London's Little Opera House at the King's Head Theatre in Islington.

As blood ran down actor Martin Nelson's arms into the water, the woman passed out - in full view of several critics, including Paul Taylor of The Independent, Michael Hal of The Guardian, and the recent Olivier Award-winning directors of OperaUpClose, Adan Spreadbury-Maher and Robin Norton-Hale.

Luckily the bloodletting - the death of the character Seneca - heralded the interval in this 1980s Eurotrash reworking of Monteverdi's final work, first staged in the 1640s.

The woman's daughter told staff she thought she'd suffered a stroke - and an ambulance was called - and two arrived in just minutes.

"It certainly heightened the drama of the evening," said Kevin Wilson, the show's publicist."Thankfully the woman was OK - just hated the sight of blood - and insisted she wanted to return for act two, which includes the eagerly awaited premiere of a new intervention aria by Michael Nyman. "I warned her that there was much more blood to come at the climax to the opera - and she readily agreed to move to swap seats in the full auditorium and move to the safety of the back row."

THE CORONATION OF POPPEA,
London's Little Opera house at the king's head Theatre