Brazilian actor dies after accidental hanging in 'The Passion of the Christ' play

[Bonnie]

Brazilian actor dies after accidental hanging in 'The Passion of the Christ' play

(CNN) -- A Brazilian actor died after accidentally hanging himself during the play "The Passion of the Christ," a local hospital said.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/world/...ing/index.html

[See http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/onstage.asp for two other examples of "Judas" dying as a result of an on-stage hanging.]

[chillas]

Ugh. Staged hangings are one of the most dangerous things one can do live. Dangerous enough that I'd say that they shouldn't even be done at all. Too many variables to control for even when being done "safely."

[Mad Jay]

"One of the actors came over to me, desperate, explaining there was someone unconscious hanging from the rope and that he wanted to cut it," Rosner told TV Record. "I was a little worried about giving him a knife in the middle of the crowd."

So, they had planned a staged hanging, and nobody thought of keeping some sort of implement handy that can cut the rope quickly?

[GenYus234]

If you are going to stage a hanging, why not use a breakaway rope? Above where the audience can see, tie the rope off to a bit of string with a breaking point below that of the actor's weight. The string should be enough to keep the rope taut-looking for the play. But if something goes wrong and weight is on the hanging rope, the string will break and release the rope. Also, shouldn't there be a safety signal, like clapping your hands or feet three times to signal to the other actors that something is wrong?

[Cowboy Joe]

It's been a long time since I saw Passion of the Christ, but I don't remember there being any munchkins in that show.

[Auburn Red]

I remember when my family and I saw a stage performance of Jesus Christ Superstar , they had Judas run off the stage and it was implied that he hung himself by just showing an empty hangman's noose and I explained to them about the other incidents. I guess at least with that performance they probably felt that the risks were too great and while there seemed to be only 2 Judas' deaths reported, that was two too many.

[stoolie]

Originally Posted by Cowboy Joe

It's been a long time since I saw Passion of the Christ, but I don't remember there being any munchkins in that show.

They stood next to Doc Brown as he took a shot at the clock tower.