by Dustin E.
So I am in the middle of Production Stage Managing a production of Edward
Albee's The Zoo Story. The show is running well, my board op hasn't fallen
asleep yet and the actors, only by some miracle of god, hadn't missed a single
line. Well, halfway through the run (it is one of those long one acts with no
intermission) this woman, whom the cops said was strung out on either coke,
heroine, or both, struts her hot little self out onto the stage. It is a small
thrust space and she had easy access to stumble down from her seat on to the
stage and plop herself on one of our park benches right next to one of my two
actors. She then in a loud boisterous voice begins to convince him to stop doing
the show. "No one is even paying attention, come on, just stop, we don't
even like it,"
she says as she begins to caress his shoulder. At this point I for the first and
only time since threw my clear com off my head and went bolting around the
backstage to phone the police. After about fifteen minutes, a fist fight was
working its way out with said coke head, both actors (all the while in
character) and the house manager. They eventually dragged her kicking and
screaming off the stage and out of the theater into the cop car and merrily on
her way. Then without missing a beat my actors picked up where they left off and
continued doing the performance.
