Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Taron Egerton has reassured fans he is “completely fine” after fainting during the first night of his new West End play.
The Rocketman star, 32, is starring alongside Jonathan Bailey in a revival of Mike Bartlett’s 2009 play Cock at London’s Ambassadors Theatre.
During Saturday night’s first preview, he fainted on stage and was attended to by a doctor in the audience.
His understudy Joel Harper-Jackson stepped in and the cast were able to finish the play.
Last night was an absolute privilege. Taron is a true gentleman, has been so supportive & most importantly he’s okay & will be back on Monday. The team at @cocktheplayldn have been so supportive & I feel extraordinarily lucky to have experienced that moment. I’ll never forget it. pic.twitter.com/57LkXuHY9I
— JOEL HARPER-JACKSON (@JoelHarperJacks) March 6, 2022
Egerton released a statement via Instagram promising to return to the show on Monday night.
He said: “As some of you may have heard, I passed out during the first performance of Cock last night.
“I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego but I’m fine.
“I’ve decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn’t handle it and checked out.
“That being said, apparently you’re meant to actually do the full show and not just three quarters of it. So I’ll be back with a vengeance tomorrow night.”
He also praised Harper-Jackson as “an amazing actor and a lovely person”, adding: “Thank you Joel.”
On Sunday afternoon, Harper-Jackson wrote on Twitter that taking Egerton’s place on stage had been “an absolute privilege”.
He added: “Taron is a true gentleman, has been so supportive & most importantly he’s okay & will be back on Monday.
“The team at @cocktheplayldn have been so supportive & I feel extraordinarily lucky to have experienced that moment. I’ll never forget it.”
A statement from the production said: “During yesterday evening’s first preview of Mike Bartlett’s play Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre, Taron Egerton fainted towards the end of the performance.
“A doctor who was in the audience attended to Taron immediately after the incident, and whilst he felt fine, it was decided that Taron’s understudy, Joel Harper-Jackson would continue in the role to complete the performance.”
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
