Actor sues Royal College of Music over ‘stage fight’ injury

An actor is suing the Royal College of Music (RCM) for £125,000 for breaching health and safety regulations after he was injured during rehearsals.

Arthur Chaill was practising a prison escape scene at the college in 2015 when he fell four feet through a projection screen, leaving him with spinal injuries, chronic pain and numbness in his hands. He claims the accident was caused by RCM's failure to carry out a risk assessment for such a scene.

RCM has argued in court that the London Armenian Opera, which Cahill was rehearsing for, was responsible for his safety; the opera in turn argues it had "no effective control of the premises" it was hiring.

A civil trial of Cahill’s claim will take place at a later date.