Mentally Impaired Audience Members

Something has been bothering me since I saw Mary Poppins two months ago.

I was sitting in the back of the theatre (third to last row of orchestra) on the aisle. On the other side of the aisle was a wheelchair spot that was occupied by a person who had Downs Syndrome (mental retardation) in a wheelchair, sitting beside his mother. The person was not young, and obviously had a pretty severe case. The thing I couldn't help but notice was that he had been making noises a lot, and once the overture started the noises did not stop. Obviously, the sounds he was making were incredible audible because an usher came over to talk to this man and his mother. A few minutes later, they weren't seated there anymore.

Do you know if ushers have grounds to tell patrons to leave under this circumstances? Or do you think that they were just told to move to a different area of the theatre? I understand that it is very distracting to both the performers and the audience but it breaks my heart to think that, after probably receiving looks constantly and being constantly jeered at in everyday life, they were turned down from a Broadway experience.

Thoughts?

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Well, I think I would've rather bared the noise than have that feeling of hurt for the poor person. The mother wanted to take him out on a nice trip to the theatre, something they probably can't do much since I'm sure all the medical bills for a disorder such as that rake up after a while, and to be turned away is, like I said, heartbreaking.

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I would think they made an alterate accomodation for this young man. It would be a shame to be removed fro an area of public accomodation due to a disability.

Wow... this one has me conflicted, because I am a huge Broadway fan, but I work with the developmentally disabled for a living. So part of me would be a tad annoyed by the loud noises, another part of me would just be able to totally be able to tune it out. But there are definitely downsides to either action taken by the theatre staff.

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And on a side note what was he doing that could be distracting the performers. Especially if he was sitting so close to the back of the orchestra?

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"I think there should be a policy about that so they won't grant tickets like that to save them the letdown of being kicked out."


Wow.

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Updated On: 5/8/09 at 07:24 PM

Perhaps they were moved to a box so as to be not next to anyone?

This happened to me when I saw JERSEY BOYS. I was in the front row, and everytime a song started I would hear this loud whooping noise coming from somewhere behind me on the left side. I thought it was someone who was a big fan of the songs and I was going to go over during intermission and tell them to stop yelling, but when the house lights came up I saw that the noises were actually from a severly disabled man in a wheelchair. I think his caretaker explained to him he had to behave or maybe she moved him elsewhere, because I didn't notice anything during the second act.

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As for being torn-you simply can't discriminate.

Now, my solution would be that if you are a patron who just can't tune out the noise, I'd ask the usher if you could be moved to a different seat.

As far as the noise being extremely loud, I'm guessing that the production has made provisions in their contract as to what steps should be taken.

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It isn't discriminating to tell a person who is making noise to leave. If they saw they had Downs syndrome before seeing the show and didn't give them tickets, that would be discrimination. If the person is audibly disrupting the show, on their own free will or not, then they should be accommodated so they aren't distracting, or if the person is unwilling to comprise, be removed.

there is a way to predict what their response will be. The "Behaviors" of these people are fairly set. If that makes any sense.

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Hmm this is a great thread

I work Front Of House at a huge touring house here in the UK and this incident is one which is problematic.

In our theatre we also have the wheel chair spaces at the back of the auditorium in the circle and have often had Downs Syndrome patrons etc that have made a lot of noise throughout a performance (of course not the patrons fault)

We would never ask them to leave but we have had to take a few steps to consider the patron and the audience around them.

Most of the times we will not do anything until an audience member complains about the noise.At that point we will speak to the chaperone and explain the situation and ask if there is anything they can do to keep the patron quiet, Sometimes the chaperone will choose to leave the show of their own accord because they dont want the enjoyment of the show to be ruined for others.Sometimes they will take the patron out of the auditorium ever 15 mins or so in to the bar area or on the prom and then go back in once the patron has quietened down.

Other times we will re seat people around them (if we have room) and thats normally fine.

The production which is in understands that these things happen and are used to it, it may be distracting to the performer but they understand, its not like some bratty kid heckling etc.

We would never ask them to leave though, its not fair but we will do EVERYTHING we can to work the situation for all parties involved

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My friend's comments after the show made me think a lot about it back then.
I know that a lot of things could happen during a performance that may disrupt the experience, but it is a Front of House responsibility to deal with it, somehow.
I tried to be understanding, but we certainly didn't pay our money to be understanding, but to enjoy the show.

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