Audience members rallied behind actor Laurence Fox after he swore at heckler and walked off the stage during a play at Park Theatre on Tuesday night (8 March).
Exceptional performance of #PatrioticTraitor @ParkTheatre and @LozzaFox dealt brilliantly with that cunning stunt at the end.
— Lewis Vickers (@LewisVickers) March 8, 2016
Fox was starring as Charles de Gaulle in a production of David Littlejohn’s The Patriotic Traitor at the Finsbury Park theatre.
During his final speech, Fox allegedly launched a foul-mouthed tirade at a man in the front row who had interrupted him in French during the performance.
@ablaze_alive an incredibly rude man shouted out twice in the final scenes and @LozzaFox didn't put up with it! All round great performance.
— Megan Owen (@MeganOwen02) March 9, 2016
Fox said: “I won’t bother telling you the story because this c*** in the front row has ruined it for everybody.” He then left the stage, and was absent when the rest of the cast came on to bow.
Despite the disruption, many audience members took Twitter to support Fox’s reaction, as did the play’s director Jonathan Lynn, who said he supported the “wonderful” actor’s response.
@ablaze_alive an incredibly rude man shouted out twice in the final scenes and @LozzaFox didn't put up with it! All round great performance.
— Megan Owen (@MeganOwen02) March 9, 2016
Wonderful actor @lozzafox finally responded to drunk heckler disrupting #ThePatrioticTraitor last night. The audience supported Fox. Me too.
— Jonathan Lynn (@mrjonathanlynn) March 9, 2016
The actor himself has spoken out about his outburst. “Can I stop by apologising to the other 199 people in the theatre,” he told Radio 4 Today Progamme this morning (10 March).
“It was a very emotional part of the play I was very upset about it I was upset by the way I behaved.
“Someone in the theatre started muttering and heckling early on in the play and then towards the end started telling me to “F off back to Colombay” [the commune in northern France where Charles de Gaulle is buried] and moaning about various things. It became so loud and so impossible to deal with.”
If you feel the need to shout out,maybe panto would b better suited to u and leave the real theatre to the professionals like @LozzaFox
— 1984marieT (@1984marieT) March 10, 2016
“In the theatre there is a fourth wall through which the audience watch it’s not just interactive stand up comedy show and so if someone is heckling theyre ruining it for everybody.
“It becomes and unperformable play. The play stops at that moment it’s defying the device of what the theatre is.”
The play looks at the complex relationship between Charles de Gaulle and Chief of State Philippe Pétain, played by Tom Conti, during the Second World War.
Other cast members include Niall Ashdown, Ruth Gibson and Tom Mannion. The play runs until Saturday 19 March.
I’d like to know why the Park Theatre is leaving Laurence to stand alone before all the press comments. They let it go on, until he reacted and have since remained silent on the matter.