Throughout the course of live theater, there have been a number of cases of actors accidentally taking their own lives during scenes.
Throughout the course of live theater, there have been a number of cases of actors accidentally taking their own lives during scenes. In 2016, actor Raphael Schumacher tragically hung himself while reenacting a hanging scene on stage. The stunt left him in a coma, and shortly afterward, doctors declared him clinically deceased. Schumacher changed the play's script at the last minute, the directors of the theater company told Italian newspaper Il Giorno: "The original monologue included a fake gunshot but he eventually decided for the hanging -- without telling us." The incident occurred during an interactive performance in Pisa, Italy. Schumacher was performing a monologue from Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening alone in a courtyard in front of just one spectator. The performance ended with Schumacher placing his head in a noose. The actor was discovered unconscious and seriously oxygen-deprived by a second spectator, reportedly a medical student, who ru...