Saturday, April 19, 2014
Theater Director Responds Perfectly to Anti-Gay Patron
The Bilerico Project: It was supposed to be a routine performance of Deathtrap, a popular 1978 play by Ira Levin that holds the record for the longest-running comedy thriller on Broadway. The production, mounted by the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, has garnered favorable reviews and a strongly positive response from the community. But one patron was so upset that she grabbed her teenage son, left at intermission, and demanded a refund for the rest of the season.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
This is one of the best responses to a woman who was afforded by the content she and witness in the show Deathtrap. This woman who has been attending Pioneer Theatre Company for a while has had a couple bad experiences with their shows. She took her son to see the production with her and she was offended that their was a 3-4 second same-sex kiss. She said in her letter, "I have NEVER been so disgusted and infuriated. I was livid." She was pissed that the company didn't put out an advisory for the content. The letter she received as a response was written by Chris Lino, who said in theatre there is always going to be someone who gets offend by some material no matter what. There is always going to be the 10-20 percent who are. I love how he makes the claim that she supports murder, which is what the bulk of the show is about, but doesn't support a fictional same-sex KISS. I would understand if she was outraged because her teenage son had saw a sex scene of either gender, but it was a kiss. The issue comes down to same sex relationships and you would think by now people wouldn't care so much. If you were to ask her why she felt offended, she probably would have had some response that didn't make like its unethical or its against the bible. This woman got what she deserved and I hope she is frowned upon in her community.
I feel so bad for the son in this story, he must have been mortified. I guess I can partly understand where the mother is coming from, depending how she was raised and how strong her beliefs are, but she should really understand that even though she still lives in the dark ages the rest of us are in the 21st century. Also, I really hope that her son doesn't grow up to be like his mother, which hopefully shouldn't be a problem considering how gay themes are becoming more and more prevalent in pop culture. The response to the mother's letter was great, and the whole situation was handled well. It may have been a bit immature to post a copy of it on facebook, but I get why they did it. The letter was just the right mix of diplomatic apology while also taking cracks at the mother. Job well done Pioneer Theatre Company.
Kudos to the theater director, it sometimes takes a lot more intelligence and acceptance to not get angry at a person for their opinions that you don't agree with. When I saw the title of the article, I thought it might be another example of a pro-gay person taking the moral high ground over an otherwise ignorant person, but this is a really well measured and thought out response, something I think we miss a lot of in our time.
This is a good example of the way theatre organizations might run into conflict with patrons. While I believe that theatres should program their season around the community of patrons that attend their productions, it's obvious that a single organization can't find a way to please all potential audience members. The theatre's response was a great way of sticking to their beliefs, mission and decisions while attending to a patron's wishes.
That being said, I think it's disgusting in this day and age that people still find "homosexual content" repulsive, and Lino's response dealt with that really well.
Though I do think that the theatre company did a good job at responding to the woman, I'd like to address her letter more than the theater's. The part of her letter that most horrified me was when she described people who would think nothing of or condone the homosexual behavior as an "insignificant minority". I was most offended by the fact that she sees people who do not share her beliefs as subhuman and unimportant. Her actions in regards to her son are also awful. She should be ashamed of her actions. She was disrespectful to the actors and patrons by walking out early; she was rude to her son by making him leave because she was uncomfortable with the situation, and she was rude to the LGBTQ+ community by taking a kiss to be warning worthy.Even shows, like Disney princess movies, that are deemed appropriate for young children have kissing in them. If she wants warnings for something she would allow for a 5 year old to see, simply because the people involved were of the same sex, is completely irrational and unacceptable.
That was a fantastic response on the part of the director, who clearly knew that he or she was dealing with a person who had no intention of changing her mind. While you can find bigoted people anywhere in the world, I'm actually not surprised that this incident took place in Utah. In the current day and age, a brief homosexual kiss shouldn't even warrant mention, never mind a suggestive content advisory. It is not vulgar, or even "edgy". Edgy really is one of those words that people like to throw around when they're uncomfortable describing something for what it really is.
This was an amazing response to an irrational and outdated point of view. I read this article a little while ago and was so uplifted for the rest of the day. I think the theatre director's response was the perfect blend of poise and throwback that was needed in this situation. As the director mentions in his letter, I found it so confounding that the woman was ok with the violence in the play, but the simple act of a kiss threw her off the rails. I feel that most people go to the theater expecting to see risky behavior and situations that they would not normally be accustomed to in everyday life. This woman needs to grow a pair and realize that if she is going to go watch a piece of art, there are going to be some things that are going to surprise and even shock her.
Well Handled. Nothing says that content advisories have to be offered at all (at a regional theatre level, at least). There will always be the 10% that disagree with theatre content, on one end or the other.
I will note that the complainant did not suggest that the theatre should not produce edgy material, only that they should be more careful about advising patrons of such material.
Do I agree with her? No, not really. She’s pretty much what’s wrong with modern theatre audiences. Do I see where she’s coming from? Absolutely.
I'm quite impressed with the sophistication and level of respect that the director responds with dealing with a patron that is clearly unwilling to change her ideals. Personally I'm appalled at the level of hatred and bigotry that she so clearly displays in her letter and pity the woman that cannot accept something like that in this day and age. I don't expect her to change the ideals she has come to live by in her life, but I do expect her to have some respect for other people's choices and sexuality. I think in all the situation was handled quite well and I hope that perhaps it helps people to realize they need to think before they speak and think about how they might affect others with their words and actions.
I think that it was great of the theater to handle this ordeal with such poise and professionalism. I doubt that it was easy for Chris Lino or the staff that this woman spoke to on the night of the play, to speak calmly and rationally with someone who has such a ridiculous problem. I just feel bad for her son and hope that her son is able to see past her opinions.
I think this is a little insane. People are still talking about this? This is still something? This is still Edgy???? It's 2014! Have you been writing letters to television networks? Have you been Living under a rock??? No please stop. Obviously the theatre can say this better but this is still rediculous to me.
I can't say I'm surprised that someone reacted like this. However, I am surprised that she reacted like this to content that was actually aligned with her beliefs, or "gay-bashing" as it was called in the article. I think the theater handled this very well and had no reason to have an advisory. And, even if they did, I think if they labeled it "Spoiler Alert" and then the advisory, the person in question would not have looked at it.
As a play that has been running since 1978, a small homosexual kiss onstage shouldn’t be causing a ruckus in 2014. In recent years, activism for homosexual relations has been dramatically increasing. The fact that this long-running play is more offensive now than it has been when society was known to be more closed-minded is ridiculous. Because everyone is entitled to their own opinions, the theatre director responded exceedingly well to the anti-gay patron’s email about her and her son. He conducted a formal apology, mixed with a subtle and snide way to rescind her season tickets. Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of blatant homosexuality, however, there are much more offensive things in the play than a 3-4 second kiss between two men who later get killed. Including ratings and censorship warnings for certain plays couldn’t hurt to include, however they don’t seem outstandingly necessary for productions that don’t include extreme content such as nudity or foul language.
Post a Comment