A View From the Bridge halted by audience member fainting shortly after actor took his top off

Russell Tovey was shirtless at the time, prompting unfortunate jokes that the sight of his body sparked a swoon

(Getty)

A Broadway play came to a sudden halt on Saturday night after an audience member fainted.

British actor Russell Tovey was starring in A View from the Bridge at the Lyceum Theatre in New York when Davin Cutchall, who was in the seating section on the minimal stage, collapsed. The performance was briefly stopped so that a doctor could attend to him.

Mark Strong and Phoebe Fox were also on stage with Tovey, who was unfortunately shirtless for the scene at the time of the incident, prompting a flood of jokes that the sight of his toned body must have sparked a swoon. Cutchall, was taken to hospital by emergency medical staff and the show continued.

A spokesperson for the production confirmed the news to Playbill, saying: “An audience member, male, seated in the stage seats fainted during the performance. Evidently he had a heart condition but he did not have a heart attack.

“Overall, the disruption was about 15 minutes, the show continued and hopefully the man is recovering safely.”

Early the next day, Cutchall tweeted Tovey to apologise for “disturbing the performance” along with a photo of himself in hospital bed. “I’m feeling better now, you were great!” he wrote, adding that doctors said he did not have a cardiac event and had simply fainted.

A View From The Bridge sees Tovey employ an American accent to play the lead as illegal Italian immigrant Eddie.

Cutchall eventually got to see the play in full.