‘Romeo and Juliet’ Fight Too Realistic: Dancer Is Stabbed

An Atlanta Ballet dancer was listed in fair condition today with a punctured lung after he was accidentally stabbed during a performance of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Richard McLeod was stabbed Friday night when a protective board under his costume slipped during a fight scene in Act One. Since McLeod’s character was supposed to die at the point of the accident, the ballet composed by Sergei Prokofiev continued with the audience unaware of the injury.

“He was not knocked unconscious,” said Atlanta Ballet President Kenneth Hertz. “He retained all his senses. He fell and said to another dancer: ‘I have been stabbed. Get me off the stage. “‘

McLeod, 20, was taken to Georgia Baptist Hospital immediately afterward.