Ali Condon
A Broadway fan was left devastated after being 'publicly ridiculed' by an actor on stage who wrongfully accused her of recording the show.
Samantha Coleman had been sitting in the front row for the Broadway production of Hadestown in New York when she was reportedly called out by actress Lillias White, who plays Hermes in the show, for using a recording device.
In fact, what Samantha was actually doing was using a closed captioning device, which she uses due to her hearing loss.
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Trying to hold back tears, Samantha took to Instagram to share the 'super embarrassing' experience.
Explaining that she was called out 'not once, but twice' by the actor on stage, Samantha claimed that this was just one example of a much wider issue about the lack of accessibility in theatre.
"I'm sure she wasn't the only person on the stage that might have thought that. She was the only person, however, to call me out," she said.
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"My hearing is such that I need captioning devices to see a show. And to be kind of ostracised and publicly ridiculed really hurts. It was super embarrassing."
Speaking up for other people who rely on closed captioning devices to enjoy theatre, Samantha added: "The people who need to use these devices should feel comfortable and confident seeing a Broadway show, and not be met with shame and embarrassment and anxiety."
In the caption of her video, Samantha admitted that this experience was her worst fear realised, and now she didn't know when she would 'feel comfortable using a captioning device again'.
She went on to write that she found theatre to be 'an exclusionary space for people who are disabled' and this experience was 'just shining a light to that'.
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"We are just now reaching the technological peak, where tech can allow more people to see and understand theatre", Samantha wrote.
"As we continue to make inclusionary progress in the audience tech, how do we create an equitable experience for every person in the building?"
It wasn't long before Samantha's story went viral and sparked outrage among Broadway fans.
The team behind Hadestown has since come out with a comment claiming that they 'have a commitment to accessibility in all forms'.
They stated: "The incident yesterday is a reminder that this is an ongoing process needing constant revisiting and renewal.
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"Providing access is also about educating everyone in the theatre about how we can be more supportive. We are reviewing our policies and internal protocols to ensure this doesn’t happen again."
They later added that they had connected with Samantha privately to apologise and 'remedy the situation.'
LADbible has reached out to Hadestown for a comment.