Visceral reaction at LONG DAY...

[NYactor85]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 12:38pm

Saw the show yesterday. Really enjoyed it a lot. Thought they needed a second intermission (between 3 and 4) but that's not the reason I'm posting today.

Yesterday, there was a woman behind me that at the top of act 4 was cackling in the "funny part" (it is funny but not to chortle/snort level). She cackled for the first 10 minutes of the act. I figured sure, she's enjoying the show. Cool.  Then a few minutes later I hear her crying softly. And then in the next 3 minutes it becomes a wailing sound. This doesn't stop for about 15 minutes. A person in the row next to her asked if she was ok. She said, fairly loudly, "Don't touch me!" And "I don't need help!". This goes on and off for the next hour of the play. I felt terrible for her and when we were all leaving she was still crying immobile in her seat.

I am posting this because I hope she is ok and has anyone experienced this at this show or any show?

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 12:48pm

I had issues once seeing Next to Normal on Broadway where two "super fans" (who were younger teenagers) seems like they were in a crying contest so that everyone around them knew that the super fans "got" the show more than they did.  One of the most cringeworthy and teeth clenching moments I've had in the theater. 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:11pm

Someone needs to tell these people that no matter how good the actors are it is not real life. It is acting. If someone gets stabbed on stage they do not have to call 911. It is not really happening people.

[NYactor85]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:15pm

The thing is this person was clearly devastated from either the play or something in her personal life as her friend kept trying to console her.  It made for a very awkward last hour in a relatively quiet play

 

Honestly, i hope that person is ok

[Petrichor]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:32pm

Oh, poor woman... I hope she is okay! I think it would have been best if the person she was with would have taken her out to the lobby or even outside the theatre(would they have been allowed to re-enter?) so she could have time to get back in a better state and hopefully enjoy the rest of the show. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:33pm

Mr Roxy said: "Someone needs to tell these people that no matter how good the actors are it is not real life. It is acting. If someone gets stabbed on stage they do not have to call 911. It is not really happening people."

 

I find this comment rather insensitive. LONG DAY'S JOURNEY deals with many issues that can be deeply personal to specific individuals. It can be a lot to see perhaps a reflection of your own life/family life played out on stage. I vividly remember being unable to get out of my seat for a good while after seeing the THE NORMAL HEART revival. The NEXT TO NORMAL girls sound annoying...this person sounds like they really might not have known what they were about to see.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:40pm

Roxy's comment is extremely insensitive.

LDJ is a rough show. I hope that woman is all right too, though I have to wonder if someone should have warned her about the content.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:49pm

My spouse had a very visceral reaction to LDJ, too. He was not aware of the content going in (he's not a theater person) and the situations were very close to his own experience. He identified with the character of Mary who felt very close to his own mother. His reaction was different than the woman mentioned here -- he went very silent and still, whereas it seems like the woman here had an outburst of emotion, but yeah, the belittling of people who have emotional reactions that is inherent in Roxy's post is gross. Art does not exist just to be passively consumed; good art SHOULD provoke an emotional reaction.

Updated On: 5/23/16 at 01:49 PM

[nsguy45]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:55pm

A very loud and bitter argument took place just behind me at a Broadway matinee of Torch Song Trilogy, when an elderly woman took offense at a man in her row laughing hysterically at nearly every other line in the play. It took a couple of ushers to intervene.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:57pm

Long Day's Journey was O'Neill spilling his family's blood- including his own- upon the page. It was such a painful, visceral play for him that he wanted it sealed until a quarter century passed after his death.

But yeah it's just a play, says noted empath Mr. Roxy.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:58pm

Well said, Kad.