In the Wings

I don’t often share Facebook-borne items in this space  — this might be a first — but this performance report from a Seattle Rep production of “Harold and the Purple Crayon” caught my eye.

A performance report is a note from the stage manager (in this case, Michael A. Ball) to the producers and creative team about the previous performance, detailing things like actors missing cues, lights that failed to work, disruptive cell-phones, etc..

That’s what typically fill performance reports.

Not this one.

If you’re having trouble reading it, here’s what it says under “PERFORMANCE NOTES:”

“It was generally agreed by all that the show was “kind of rough” (tech wise). But after the show we learned that there was a 5 year old autistic child in the house. He had never spoken. But as the lights went down, he began to talk. In full sentences. He called the teacher by name. She had no idea he even knew her name. He was engaged in the show—at one point commenting to the teacher that if there is a dragon then there will be fire. And there was fire. He talked all throughout the show. When the lights came back up — he quit talking and returned to his world. So, yes, I could list all the little things that (went) wrong today but that is not what this show is about. And that little boy certainly didn’t see those things as he sat talking in the dark theatre watching Harold and his Purple Crayon.”

Pretty amazing stuff.