Letter: Turn Off Your Cell Phones During Theater Performances
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To the editor:
A cell phone stopped the show at Shakespeare & Company. During a particularly intense scene of Lynn Nottage's extraordinary "Intimate Apparel," the amazing actor Nehassaiu deGannes broke the fourth wall but stayed in the rage of her character. She said "Please turn off your cell phone. I can hear it vibrating, and I won't continue until you turn it off." She was scary. A woman in the front row reached into her purse and turned off her phone immediately. The play continued.
DeGannes's words changed the experience of the play for all of us, but far from enough to spoil it. I believe everyone in the audience was on her side. Let's remember that when we are asked to turn off our phones, "off" doesn’t mean vibrate. "Off" means "off."
Nancy Salz
Stockbridge
