Audience Protests Explicit ART Show

Nearly 90 audience members walked out in the middle of a sold-out performance last Thursday at the American Repertory Theatre (ART) to protest the explicit language and subject matter, according to the show’s star, improvisational monologist Mike Daisey.

The exiting party—a group of high school students, teachers, and parent chaperones visiting from California—included a father who emptied a bottle of water onto Daisey’s notes, according to Katalin Mitchell, the director of press and public relations for the ART.

The group was from Norco High School, according to an online arts blog of The Boston Globe.

The principal and vice principal of Norco could not be reached for comment at their homes last night.

The offending sketch from Daisey’s monologue, “Invincible Summer,” compared the arrogance of New Yorkers to Paris Hilton and repeatedly used explicit language.

Mitchell said a member of the group called in advance to inquire about the appropriateness of Mr. Daisey’s performance, and ART informed the caller of the “adult situations and language of the performance, and that another school from Andover would be in attendance.” Apparently satisfied, the caller ordered 87 tickets for the student group.

Daisey said the reaction came as a surprise and that despite the frequently contentious nature of his performances—his work touches on abortion and Scientology—no audience had ever protested his work in this manner.

“A lot of my work is very controversial, but I’ve never had people offended by simple language,” he said. “I’ve never had my work insulted. That was very new.”

Daisey said in an interview yesterday that he would not press charges for the destruction of his notes.

Last Friday, Daisey posted a YouTube clip of the incident on his blog, www.mikedaisey.com, describing the act as an “anti-baptism.”

As the group exited the theater, Daisey asked them to stay behind to explain their behavior, calling them “cowards.”

Daisey also said he had contacted members of the group after the show to discuss the walk-out and that some of the students had “reached out to him” with apologies.

“That’s more than the adults ever did. These students were sucked into something, and they had to go along with the group because they were students,” he said, adding that if the teenagers were interested in seeing a completed version of the show they should

“give him a call, and he’ll set that up for them.”

According to Mitchell, the other student group in the audience was “delighted” by the show and stayed for a post-performance discussion, prompted by the uproar earlier in the evening.

Daisey, whose work is improvisational and relies on audience interaction, said that he had worried that his Friday performance would be inhibited in reaction to the debacle Thursday night.

“I was wary,” he said. “It was very hard because the boundaries had been disrupted. But I’m fine now.”