Vienna  - In a mix-up which was close to being fatal, a stage actor playing a suicide scene in Vienna seriously wounded himself when he used a real knife, instead of a fake one, to cut his throat, theatre officials said Wednesday.

Actor Danel Hoevels managed to stagger off the stage after inflicting a deep slice wound to his throat.

He was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, officials of Vienna's famous Burgtheater confirmed about reports about the incident which had happened the previous weekend.

The near-genuine suicide came in the play Maria Stuart by Friedrich von Schiller in a guest performance by Hamburg's Thalia Theater group.

"If the actor had put a little more pressure on the knife or even struck an artery, he would probably have bled to death on the stage," the medical doctor who treated Hoevels told the newspaper Oesterreich.

The Burgtheater said that somehow a real knife was used in the scene, instead of the usual fake knife with a dull blade. The theatre said it greatly regretted the accident, but noted that responsibility was that of the guest theatre group. (dpa)