Tragedy Strikes on the Seattle Stage
A classic production of Romeo and Juliet takes a gruesome turn when a sword thrust during a duel leaves a performer blind.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
During the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt in 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Alhambra theater this afternoon, Thomas Keene, the tragedian, accidentally thrust his sword into the left eye of Lowell, destroying his sight. Lowell was playing Benvolio, and as Tybalt (Robert T. Haines) fell, Lowell caught him, at which moment Keene stabbed Tybalt, and the blade entered Lowell’s eye. The sharp blade narrowly escaped entering the brain. Lowell was removed to the Hotel Rainier and will not be able to appear again for some time. Physicians say the eye will be blind. Lowell formerly lived in Seattle.
“The sharp blade narrowly escaped entering the brain.”
Occupational hazards for 19th-century actors were significant, especially when stagecraft relied on genuine, sharp weaponry. While theater safety has drastically improved, this story serves as a reminder of the raw, often dangerous physical labor that fueled the era's bustling entertainment culture.
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