Keira Knightley's Broadway debut interrupted by screaming fan

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Keira Knightley's Broadway debut in Helen Edmundoson's Thérèse Raquin had to restart Thursday after a screaming fan interrupted the performance according to reports.

The unruly audience member, who was sitting in the mezzanine section, tried to get Knightley's attention only minutes after the show started by asking the Oscar nominee's hand in marriage.

Audience members Whitney McIntosh and Kacey Bange shared their first-hand accounts with E! News about what happened inside the theater.

"As soon as the play started, there was a guy who started yelling, 'This was all looney tunes!' I turned and noticed that there was a guy hanging off the mezzanine yelling stuff to the stage. 'Keira, none of this is real! This is all an act! Christ was born of a virgin!'" Bange said. "He kept yelling before ending with a perfunctory, 'Will you marry me?'"

As security escorted the man out, he was able to break free and throw onstage an unusual bouquet of flowers which lead actor Gabriel Ebert quickly kicked off the stage to the sound of applause.

"They let go of him briefly and at that point he was able to turn and toss his bouquet of flowers on to the stage," MacIntosh said. "They made it all the way to the stage from the balcony and landed with a heavy thud, much heavier than a bouquet of roses would be which was unsettling and suspicious."

After a quick restart with intermission, the play was able to resume uninterrupted. The man was later detained by the NYPD.

"Roundabout takes the safety of their actors and audiences very seriously and extra security will be added beginning tonight," the company that operates Studio 54, where the show is playing, said in a statement. "For obvious reasons, we cannot comment on the exact nature of the additional security measures."

Knightley plays the title character in the show, which opens on Oct. 29 alongside theater actors Gabriel Ebert, Matt Ryan, and David Patrick Kelly.