WENN

Faye Dunaway reportedly forgot her lines and took on audience members before her firing from the play Tea at Five.

The one-woman play, in which Dunaway portrayed screen legend Katharine Hepburn, was billed as the Oscar winner's return to Broadway for the first time in 37 years, but she was fired after early performances in Boston, Massachusetts in July, amid reports of bust-ups with the crew.

Stage managers' show reports obtained by TMZ.com now claim the star forgot her lines, despite wearing an earpiece, and even told an audience member to take a hat off their knee as she found it distracting.

The reports also claim the 78-year-old star asked for lines in front of a live audience, stopped the whole show to complain about the lighting, and criticised backstage staff from the moment she arrived at Boston's Huntington Theatre.

The production is no longer Broadway-bound, but is heading to London's West End next year with a new lead.

Its producers announced they had "terminated their relationship" with the actress amid reports she allegedly lashed out at crew members backstage, prompting the cancellation of a performance on 10 July.

Tea at Five revolves around Hepburn's recovery from a 1983 car accident. Despite the reports of chaos behind the scenes and on stage, the play had received some solid reviews, with a Boston Globe critic heralding her "bravura" performance but noting that "she was slightly rusty on her lines".

The Bonnie and Clyde star is yet to address the reasons for her departure from the play.