Broadway play ‘Death of a Salesman’ interrupted by heckler
An unidentified woman disrupted the current all-Black-cast revival of the Arthur Miller play, which stars Wendell Pierce as Willy Loman.
A performance of the Broadway play “Death of a Salesman” was interrupted this week when a member of the audience approached the stage to heckle the actors, an incident that went viral across social media.
During Tuesday night’s production of the lauded Arthur Miller play at the Hudson Theatre, a woman from the audience rushed to the front of the stage, according to Playbill. The unidentified individual disrupted the scene by yelling at acclaimed actor Wendell Pierce, the star of the historic all-Black staging.
Pierce, in the lead role of Willy Loman, was compelled to break character to engage with the heckler, pleading with her to allow the play to continue and directing her to go to the lobby of the theater. When the woman refused, Pierce continued to speak to her as commotion throughout the now-irritated audience began to spread.
“Hold on! Talk to me, talk to me. I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll make a deal with you,” Pierce said to the heckler. “I’m going to ask them to let you stay. Hold on, hold on, I’ll make a deal with you. Ma’am, I’ll make a deal with you, alright? You can stay, but we have a show to do.”
What a wild night on Broadway. Into Act 2, @WendellPierce forced to break character to persuade a disruptive, seemingly inebriated audience member to leave.
— @erinleelikes (@erinleelikes) December 28, 2022
Still was swept by the performance of the cast by the play’s end. @Salesman_Bway is amazing & well worth seeing! pic.twitter.com/m2yfecD13s
Video footage revealed that a male companion, believed to be her husband, was there with the woman, according to a fellow audience member, who posted footage on Reddit:
“During act 1 she was constantly going through her bag loudly, and yelling responses to what the actors were saying. She was very obviously drunk and/or high. During intermission her husband tried to get her to leave. They made their way to the back of the theatre as act 2 was starting then a little while later she starts screaming at the top of her lungs that she wasn’t leaving and if she couldn’t see the rest of the show neither would anyone else.”
More footage showed Pierce imploring the “Death of a Salesman” audience to calm down as they turned audible disdain toward the heckler.
“Hold on! I’ve waited TOO LONG for this! You’ve waited too long for this,” Pierce beseeched them before directing his attention back to the woman. “If you would like your money back,” he told her, “I will guarantee your money back.”
The couple was escorted out of the theater, and the performance continued, starting again from the interrupted scene’s beginning.
The producers of the show, reached later, told Playbill “We’re grateful to the entire team at the Hudson Theatre for working together to resolve the situation and resume the performance as quickly as possible.”
This revival of “Death of a Salesman” is the first time the play has been performed by an all-Black cast on Broadway. Pierce and co-star Sharon D. Clarke were in a London production of the play in 2021, and their performances earned both of them nominations for an Olivier Award, which Clarke won.
“Death of a Salesman” is reaching the end of its 17-week limited run. The final performance is scheduled to take place on Jan. 15. This was the first revival of the play since 2012.
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