Audience member disrupts Guthrie's 'A Christmas Carol'

The Guthrie Theater's traditional holiday production of "A Christmas Carol" became more dramatic than usual on its opening night Friday, when a woman in the audience stood and screamed at other attendees for about half an hour before being escorted out.

In a brief video taken by an audience member and posted on Twitter about 8 p.m. Friday, the woman can be heard screaming "Get out of my country!" and "Losers, all of you!" and "They're mocking Shakespearean drama while they watch an English play!"

The rant, which according to attendees included racial epithets, occurred just as the lights were dimming for the Guthrie's first in-house production since it shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the one-minute, 11-second video that on Saturday had been viewed more than 33,000 times, audience members can be heard booing, laughing or calling out "Just leave!"

In a statement, Guthrie Managing Director James Haskins said members of the theater's Audience Services and Health, Safety and Security team responded and asked the woman to exit the auditorium. After about 30 minutes, he said, she "was peacefully removed by police and the performance continued."

"The staff who responded to the incident believe it was an unplanned, isolated event, and unrelated to any safety protocols the theater has required of its audience members," the statement said. "We greatly appreciate the care our staff demonstrated in handling the situation, and thank the audience for their patience and support."

At one point, the video showed, the woman looked toward the ceiling, shook her finger and shrieked "Macbeth! Macbeth!" According to a theatrical superstition, speaking the name of Shakespeare's play inside a theater — outside of a staging of the play itself — causes disasters. However, another Twitter user said "the show went perfectly."

Presenting "A Christmas Carol" has been a Guthrie tradition for 47 years.

Katy Read • 612-673-4583