Sir Ian McKellen is watching the final day of Player Kings following his understudy stepping to play the William Shakespeare character Sir John Falstaff after his stage fall.
The veteran screen and stage actor, 85, has been recovering from wrist and neck injuries after he lost his footing during a Player Kings fight scene in June, when the production was at the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre.
With “greatest reluctance”, he withdrew from Player Kings, a version of the Henry IV part one and two plays that Robert Icke has directed, earlier this month due to doctor’s advice.
Sir Ian posted on Instagram on Saturday, with a photo of his long locks cut off as he no longer plays the troublesome drinking buddy of Prince Hal, the future Henry V of England.
He wrote: “On the day of the 101st and final performance of Player Kings – without me – I celebrated by removing Falstaff’s hair, which has been growing for nine months.
“I will be in the audience for the matinee in Newcastle.”
His understudy, David Semark, stepped in to finish the run in the West End, and continued to play the role during the national tour including at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal.
Sir Ian previously reassured his fans that his injuries are “on the mend” and his doctors have promised he will make a “complete recovery” if he avoids working for the next few weeks.
He was taken to hospital after the accident to receive treatment, and promised that Icke’s “masterful production remains intact”, despite his absence.
“Any actor will say that missing a performance feels somewhat shameful, even when he is not to blame,” he said.
“None of us ever wants to let down our audience.”
Semark trained at the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art (Rada) and has credits in TV shows including EastEnders, Doctors, Law & Order UK and The Bill.
He previously told the PA news agency that he was walking “in the shadow of greatness” and he would not have stepped in without Sir Ian “behind me”.
Sir Ian, who has played a number of Shakespearean characters including Richard II, Macbeth, Coriolanus and King Lear, is best known as Magneto in the X-Men films and Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s fantasy trilogy The Lord Of The Rings.
