My last post reminded me of my favorite on-stage "screw-up" that I witnessed.
It was about 25 years ago, a production of THE DESPERATE HOURS, presented at a 99-seat theater on Hollywood's Santa Monica Blvd.
Perhaps you remember the William Wyler-directed movie with Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March? It's about a group of escaped convicts, led by Bogart, who invade March's home and hold he and his family hostage.
In the production I saw, actor Don Dubbins [TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN, etc.] played the March role.
Near the end of the play, the police surround the house and one of the convicts rushes out of the place, leaving his gun. The March character retrieves the weapon, then goes upstairs to face the Bogart character, who is using March's young son as a shield. What Bogart doesn't know is that his gun is unloaded, but March's is.
On this particular night, the actor playing one of the convicts neglected to leave his gun on stage. Therefore, after desperately looking around for it, poor Don Dubbins (in the March role) had to face the Bogart character and "ask him nicely" to let the boy go.
Knowing the play quite well, I can't tell you how sorry I felt for those two actors, trying to ad-lib their way through the scene without breaking character.