By Kim Rahn

A woman has filed a complaint with police against producers of the musical “Elisabeth” for an injury she sustained after being hit by a paper coaster thrown by an actor during the performance.

The unidentified woman in her 20s filed the complaint on March 9 against EMK Musical Company, the production firm said Friday.

She was watching the show from a VIP seat at Blue Square in central Seoul on March 8. When the second act began, actor Kim Su-yong, playing the role of Lucheni, threw postcards and other souvenirs to the audience while walking down the aisle.

A paper coaster hit the woman’s eye. She left the theater with her boyfriend, and the theater staff took them to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. The conjunctiva of her right eye sustained a scratch and she had to have stitches.

Then the woman filed the complaint, claiming she was suffering trauma from the accident. Her lawyer claimed the company neglected its duty because it didn’t give prior notice to audience about the “dangerous performance.”

EMK is trying to negotiate a settlement.

“The doctor at the hospital said the wound was not serious, and she left for Europe on March 15 for a scheduled trip. But we understand she may have been in shock because the wound was on a sensitive part of the face,” a company official said.

“We apologized to her and are arranging compensation,” she said.

Since that day, actors don’t throw coasters but only hand postcards to audience members.

The musical has been staged in many countries since the premiere in Austria in 1992 and this was the first time for such an accident, according to the company.

The star-studded Korean cast includes Kim Sun-young, Oak Joo-hyun, Song Chang-eui and Kim Jun-soo.