ASPEN, Colo. -- Et tu Brute?

An Aspen actor/director is recovering from a minor Shakespearean tragedy while he was performing on an outdoor stage Wednesday evening.

Kent Hudson Reed was really getting into his role as Brutus when he accidentally stabbed himself and cut open his leg.

He was performing a scene from "Julius Caesar" when he suddenly realized something was wrong. He'd been handling a sword while talking to Marc Antony and Cassius about swords and blood and the murder of Caesar when he looked down at his leg and saw his cream pants turn red.

He tried to carry on, but Reed said his "boot was filling up with blood," and he was "flubbing" his lines, wondering if he was going to pass out or if the audience could see the blood.

According to the Aspen Daily News, Reed broke character and then told his audience, "You'll have to excuse me. We'll have to pause for a few minutes -- I seem to have stabbed myself."

Portia, played by Susan Mauntel, took Brutus to Aspen Valley Hospital for stitches -- and play narrator Tyson Young announced the performance was canceled, saying, "That's what you get for trying to kill Caesar."

Reed, who is also the play's producer and director, said actors normally don't use real knives, but the scene was set up so none of the performers were close enough to hurt each other. But Reed said he didn't think about the fact that an actor might stab himself.

Reed said the show will go on at the Galena Plaza, and the performance troupe will take another stab at it Thursday night. However, Brutus might be limping.