A beautiful response to an uncomfortable situation.
For most people, a trip to the theatre with a child is a feat.
But for a parent of an autistic child, it comes with its own unique set of obstacles.
At a recent performance of The King and I in New York, a child — described as autistic — screamed out during the second half of the show.
According to the New York Times, the audience requested the parent and child be removed from the theatre, and the show continued.
One of the ensemble members, Kelvin Moon Loh, noticed the scene and decided to turn to his Facebook page in the aftermath and wrote a heartfelt response.
In his post, he began:
“I am angry and sad.
Just got off stage from today’s matinee and yes, something happened. Someone brought their autistic child to the theater.That being said- this post won’t go the way you think it will.
You think I will admonish that mother for bringing a child who yelped during a quiet moment in the show. You think I will herald an audience that yelled at this mother for bringing their child to the theater. You think that I will have sympathy for my own company whose performances were disturbed from a foreign sound coming from in front of them.
No.
Instead, I ask you- when did we as theater people, performers and audience members become so concerned with our own experience that we lose compassion for others?”
Loh continued that the purpose of the theatre was to bring people together, which despite the child’s behaviour, had been achieved.
He also noted that the child responded to what was a troubling scene for many:
“It so happened that during “the whipping scene”, a rather intense moment in the second act, a child was heard yelping in the audience. It sounded like terror. Not more than one week earlier, during the same scene, a young girl in the front row- seemingly not autistic screamed and cried loudly and no one said anything then. How is this any different?
His voice pierced the theater. The audience started to rally against the mother and her child to be removed. I heard murmurs of “why would you bring a child like that to the theater?”. This is wrong. Plainly wrong.”
Despite being on stage, Loh wrote about being able to see the lengths the mother of the child was going to in order to ensure they remained calm, and reiterated that they both paid the same amount as the other guests.
He concluded his post with this pointed message to all theatregoers:
“A night at the theater is special on any night you get to go.
And no, I don’t care how much you spent on the tickets.”
This is Loh’s post in full:
Top Comments
As the mother of a child (now young adult) on the spectrum I applaud Kelvin Moon Lah.
As a mother of a son on the spectrum I also want to vomit as some of the ignorance revealed here in the comments.
Yes, of course she knows her son MAY have issues during the performance but unless you are a psychic you cannot predict his reaction. So what do we do? Live in "what if" land? Never push the boundaries, never share the joy of a success that no-one will ever appreciate unless they too live in an autistic world?
My son is the incredible young man he is because we always pushed his boundaries, we never allowed his world to become so rigid and closed down that he missed much of the joy of living?
I can tell you right now that it saddens me when it becomes so obvious that my boy has more empathy and compassion and patience in his little finger than a lot of people in this world.
Just absolutely wrong.
Sorry, but personally I would have been a bit annoyed about you passing judgement and lacking compassion and understanding during a show. It's not the issue of you being ignorant, but rather the fact that you are making difficult for other audience members, who have paid good money, to enjoy the show. If you think that you are going to be judgemental and totally lack compassion or understanding, regardless or age or you being ignorant or not, please do not go to a theatre where you will most certainly ruin other viewers' experiences.
Did you actually read what that lovely actor was saying? He was actually speaking out against self absorbed and selfish people like you. What a sad and sterile world you must live in. I hope you find empathy one day.
HUH?
actually, I was replying to an earleir post but it didn't come out underneath it for some reason - I was using her own exact words back at her... it was actually an excellent comeback but I can see it doesn't make much sense her on it's own. Maybe if you read a bit further in other posts you'll get what's heppened here & then you can come back & apologise for the unnesessary name calling.
actually, I was replying to an earlier post but it didn't come out underneath it for some reason - I was using her own exact words back at her... it was actually an excellent comeback. I can see it doesn't make much sense here on it's own. It looks like the other comment may have been deleted now?