Sir Ian McKellen hospitalised after falling off stage during London theatre show

Sir Ian McKellen has been taken to hospital after falling during a theatre production. Photo / AP

Sir Ian McKellen is in hospital after falling off the stage during a theatre performance in London.

The Lord of the Rings star was acting out a fight scene during a production of Player Kings at the Noël Coward Theatre when he lost his balance and fell off the stage into the orchestra pit, according to the BBC.

McKellen reportedly “cried out in pain” and theatre staff hurried to help him. After his fall, the audience was evacuated from the venue and told that the evening performance was cancelled.

The show combines Shakespeare’s plays Henry IV Part One and Part Two in one production, and began showing on the West End in April this year.

McKellen was playing Falstaff in the production and thus wearing a fatsuit costume, which may have cushioned his fall.

One man who was in the audience on the night wrote on social media, “Everyone thought the slip and fall was part of the show until we hear him calling out for help and mentioned something about his arm.”

“I was there as well,” another theatregoer shared on Reddit. “Horrifying and we were all in shock. The theatre was evacuated and praying he is okay or not too badly hurt from what is a long fall.”

Another recalled, “He called out ‘help, help’ and the (I assume) stage manager or ASM [assistant stage manager] came running out of the wing to help him, reassuring him saying ‘I’m here, I’m here, it’s okay, I’m here,’ to which he replied, ‘help, my arms, my arms’. There was no way to hide the fear in his voice.”

Others said they had seen an ambulance outside the theatre as they were leaving the area.

The outlet reports that there have been no updates on McKellen’s injuries.

- More to come.