Cate Blanchett's return to the London stage has caused a stir after an audience member fainted midway through a preview performance.
The Times reports that an elderly woman was taken to hospital after passing out midway through The National Theatre's graphic production of When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, which reportedly features sex toys, an orgy taking place in a car, and violence against women.
Speaking to the publication about the incident, Samuel Tucker, a fellow audience member who helped the fainted woman, called the production "sexually explicit and incredibly violent right from the start".
"The whole thing is a bit much, to be honest," he added. "It is so in-your-face violent and so in-your-face sexual and if you are not about that life, it might come across as shocking."
Blanchett stars alongside Game of Thrones alumni Stephen Dillane in the adaptation of Samuel Richardson's 18th-century novel Pamela.
The National Theatre previusly said the play "breaks through the surface of contemporary debate to explore the messy, often violent nature of desire and the fluid, complicated roles that men and women play".
Blanchett has an extensive career on stage as well as starring in films including Notes On A Scandal, Blue Jasmine and Ocean's 8. She last performed on the British stage in 2012 in Big and Small at the Barbican.
