Five faint at TITUS ANDRONICUS

[Jungle Red]

When my coworker saw this, he witnessed three people faint. He also loved it.
DailyMail article

[FindingNamo]

I hope people don't start dying, like they did when The Exorcist first opened.

[sabrelady]

Wonder how they would manage Webster's The Duchess of Malfi then?

Probably ban all pregnant women for fear the unborn would be damaged!

[FindingNamo]

((Psssst… PR stunt!))

[EricMontreal22]

From what others have said this happens somewhat often at the Globe with the "groundlings"--if it's hot, that can be a LONG time to stand for a lot of people, which probably largely played the part (although the photos of her costume post rape and mutilation are pretty horrific.) The Globe hires people for every performance to watch for faintings for just that reason--whether it's Titus or Comedy of Errors.

[JerseyGirl2]

I call BS.

[sabrelady]

well if it is just PR i would love to see the job description-


"Work in the theatre! Entry level position in renowned theatre must be willing to get to the bottom of things, get hands dirty, (also face clothes) no fears of standing falling or feet. Min wage- if this sounds like u- apply the Globe theatre....

[tazber]

Your constitution must be this tall to see this show.

[Jungle Red]

I don't consider my coworker to be a liar...

[JerseyGirl2]

I wouldn't think any of the first-hand accounts are lies. It's far more likely that the fainters are planted.

[FindingNamo]

Which is a great idea, btw.

[EricMontreal22]

But the Globe continuously does great business. Would they really bother hiring fainters?

[Jungle Red]

It makes for a good show. Got us talking about it.

[AEA AGMA SM]

I believe that it has happened, but I also don't think it was a situation unique to this production. The article itself states: "Fainting isn’t exactly uncommon amongst Globe groundlings [those with £5 standing tickets] so our front-of-house staff are very well trained."

Having to stand in a relatively small, enclosed, crowded area in the summer for several hours is asking for a person to faint every now and then just due to the physical conditions, regardless of what is happening on the stage. Maybe this shocking moments of this production are adding an additional factor and increasing the occurrence of the faintings, or maybe it is indeed PR exaggeration? I, for one, assume the truth to be somewhere in the middle.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah, that was pretty much what I was trying to say :P

[AEA AGMA SM]

Sorry, Eric, meant to mention that I was agreeing with your take on the situation.

[missthemountains]

The director must be on cloud nine. This is what theatre is about, eliciting strong reactions from audiences, something which is pretty rare these days.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Ok

[EricMontreal22]

AEA--no worries, I was just buggin'

I admit, I felt a little ashamed that when I went to the Globe, as a reasonably young, fit person there was no way I was paying considerably less to *stand* for the entire play. I just find that really hard work... (It's different if it's an environmental play where you move every 20 minutes or so...)