The actor Taron Egerton has said he will return to the stage “with a vengeance” on Monday night after he fainted during the first performance of his West End debut in the play Cock by Mike Bartlett.
Egerton, best known for his screen role as Elton John in Rocketman, passed out on stage towards the end of the preview on Saturday night at the Ambassadors theatre. A doctor in the audience attended to the actor and it was decided that his understudy, Joel Harper-Jackson, should replace him for the remainder of the show.
“I am completely fine,” Egerton posted online on Sunday. “Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego but I’m fine. I’ve decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn’t handle it and checked out. That being said, apparently you’re meant to actually do the full show and not just three-quarters of it. So I’ll be back with a vengeance tomorrow night.”
Egerton praised his co-stars and the rest of the production team and called Harper-Jackson “an amazing actor and a lovely person”. Harper-Jackson tweeted on Sunday that it had been “an absolute privilege” to step in for the star. He continued: “Taron is a true gentleman, has been so supportive and most importantly he’s OK and will be back on Monday.”
In Bartlett’s comic play, Egerton plays M whose boyfriend John (Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey) falls in love with W (Jade Anouka). Harper-Jackson understudies both John and M. The cast is completed by Phil Daniels.
Cock was first staged at the Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court in London in 2009. The new West End production, which runs for 12 weeks, is directed by Marianne Elliott who, while appearing on stage at the first preview, said that Bartlett’s “wild, wonderful words” were “theatre in its truest form” and took the actors and the audience on an “imaginative journey”.
