Media outlets both local and abroad, including the Herald Scotland, have reported that the one-man stage show of Macbeth in New York starring Alan Cummings, has resulted in a personal injury lawsuit filed by a stagehand.
J.M. states that while working on the show staged by the National Theater of Scotland (NTS) a temporary wall fell on him and he sustained "great physical pain, mental anguish and bodily injuries."
Macbeth, Shakespeare's "Scottish play", has allegedly been plagued by repeated disasters since it's opening in 1606. In 1849 a New York audience rioted and the incident culminated in the deaths of 20 people.
J.M. claims that he has large medical bills since the accident and is unable to work. The suit stated that he must contend with "continuous pain and suffering in the future." J.M.'s medical bills, revealed by Harris Law, include charges with Beth Israel Hospital and eight others.
NTS is responsible for J.M.'s injuries, according to the suit, as the company failed to follow required safety standards in using the proper equipment to remove the stage wall when the play ended last July.
J.M. worked on the play while it had it's run at the Jazz At Lincoln Centre.
A pretrial conference, attended by both NTS and J.M., is scheduled for mid-May. If they are unable to reach a settlement the case should go to trial in 45 days.
The play has been receiving great reviews and stars Alan Cummings in all of the key roles. It is considered one of NTS's most successful U.S. productions.
NTS is defending the damages in the suit. Their New York-based lawyers are not denying that J.M. was injured, however, they are denying that it was the fault of NTS. Instead NTS claims that either J.M. or one of his colleagues are at fault.
A spokeswoman for NTS said, "The National Theatre of Scotland vigorously denies any liability in this matter."
Union rules bar NTS staff from directly assisting in the dismantling of the sets. NTS workers, as expected in this instance, could only witness the wall falling onto J.M.
Harris Law filed an action in the New York Supreme Court last October against both NTS and NTS America. The suit states that NTS permitted "an unsafe, defective, hazardous and/or dangerous condition" in the staging of the play. The temporary wall was not secured for removal, proper equipment was used in its removal and J.M. and others were not warned of the potential hazard.
On July 15, according to the suit, when the wall collapsed onto J.M. it caused him "to fall with great force and violence." In conclusion, the suit states that the accident was "caused wholly and solely by reason of the carelessness, recklessness and negligence" by the defendants.
Lawyers for NTS denied responsibility in January. By late February J.M. requested damages in the amount of twenty million dollars.
NTS America was dropped from the suit in April. The case has since been transferred to New York Southern District Court from the Supreme Court.
If you have been in an accident, where the negligence or failure made by another entity was to blame, contact a personal injury lawyer to file a lawsuit today!