One Actor's Message - to the Audience

[kport]

'No Flash - No Photos - No Recordings' - these are prohibitions we are told at the start of a performance. We are reminded not to interrupt the enjoyment of others, and our respect for the performers, through such actions.

This actor wants us to remember there are times for compassion and a little bit of give and take, too. Some of us will have different opinions about this, but it is interesting to read an actor's view, from the stage:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/TH ... r-20150925

[Todd]

I appreciate the actor's sensitivity to the child's condition and his sympathy towards the mother who was doing her best to calm the child. But at the risk of sounding like a meanie, I would tend to disagree that we should simply over-look the disruption that an audience member is causing during the performance of the show. Where's the sympathy towards the people sitting around them who paid good money for an enjoyable night at the theater, only to have their experience ruined or lessened by loud noises coming from another audience member ? Or what about the sympathy and respect that should be given towards the performers who would certainly be distracted and probably not be able to give as good of a performance as they wanted to ?

I see this sort of thing as being very similar to when people bring a baby to church, a movie, or to a nice restaurant, only to have the baby inevitably start crying at some point and take people's attention away from what they came for. I had a similar experience at a baseball game tonight that I had paid about $150 for (for two tickets for a friend and I) only to be seated next to two women, and a small child who looked to be about 3 years old. Predictably, the child got restless often, causing them to say, "Pardon me. . . .excuse me" as we stood up or scooted around in our seats to allow the three of them to get past us and go out to walk around for awhile. So there was lots of up and down and up and down for us to allow these people to leave and come back, and leave and come back.

Obviously, none of these situations are the fault of the child, since they can't help it that they're too young to understand what's going on or - in the case of "The King and I" situation - have a health issue beyond their control. But the adults who are making the decision to bring their child to the event should know better, and are being discourteous in my opinion for setting up a situation that is going to take away from the enjoyment of other people in attendance.

[ERinVA]

This article from the mother of an autistic boy showed up on my facebook feed today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-za ... mg00000063

[kport]

Readers may recall posts here about two young dancers who found their 'voice' through dance as a means of expression to overcome their autism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljS36YmiTjQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vVDMdGAmfg