By GILBERT WONG arts editor
Lead actor Rima Te Wiata stormed off the stage in protest at the behaviour of a man in the audience during a performance of Woman Far Walking at the Aotea Centre.
Te Wiata, who plays the younger self of 160-year-old Tiri Mahana, was distracted during Monday evening's performance at the Herald Theatre in Auckland by a member of the audience eating sweets.
She stopped the performance, swore loudly and left the stage, closely followed by fellow performer Rachel House. The house lights came up and Te Wiata demanded that the person leave the theatre.
Audience member Ron Wilson said: "I felt this was emotional blackmail and unprofessional behaviour and should not be part of a theatre experience." He also objected to Te Wiata's use of strong language. Children were in the audience.
"We attend many plays and have never seen such destruction wrought upon the work of a playwright by any actor," he said.
Te Wiata agreed to discuss the incident but later changed her mind.
The play, the first by novelist Witi Ihimaera, tells the story of Tiri Mahana, born the day the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. House plays the matriarch. The play runs from the land wars to the 1981 Springbok tour and present-day land claims.
In her review, Herald theatre critic Susan Budd described Wiata's performance as "... mercurial, placing her darts deftly to sting the old woman into admission of the truths underlying the solidity of historical fact."
Last night Tanya Heke, manager for Taki Rua Theatre, the company putting on the play, confirmed that the actors did not resume the performance. She said she could not comment further until she had seen written reports on the incident from the stage manager and the actors.
Audience members from Monday night would be refunded the price of their tickets by ringing Ticketek. The play is booked out until the season ends in Auckland.
Te Wiata's angry exit brings curtain down mid-play
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