re: UM students, football players allegedly distrupt play

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Who gives a shite. The fact that they aren't supposed to say anything during the play is just a western convention. I think these guys were going against that and illustrated how important the audience is in Theatre and that they really challenged the idea of realism with postmodernism and the conventions that control someone. What is theatre about? showing a theme or a lesson and a story and to have an audience respond to it. They responded in a non-traditional way but a response none the less. They should be able to take criticism that's what art is about. I'm no theatre guru, but I know from my theatre class that this is the way plays were and still are performed with a very interactive audience.

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You are partly right. Being quiet during a play is a western construct. If you go to shows in Asia they are still rowdy during shows, but it's still not like this, its massive applause and cheering or massive booing at the villain. Not berating the performers on stage. However, now, in just about every other venue in the dramatic world its about silent or hushed response.

Next time you go watch anything, imagine some one standing up in front of you and yelling nonsense. Is that acceptable to you or would you like to watch what's in front of you first and draw conclusions about it at the end? Because that's what theatre is about. The end result is not about immediate response, but a thought provoking one after the fact. Now, we do love an immediate response, its a thrilling piece of the art, however no one is expecting a dadaism performance from the audience when one hasn't been stipulated beforehand. Which is where, to me, your argument is lacking.

Every single one of them are willing to take criticism, but not from some random guy in a audience calling everyone a fig...during the performance...of a show about tolerance.

As a theatre guru, one that has been doing it professionally for the last decade, if that's what you learned in your theatre class then you weren't paying attention. And I'm sorry about that for you. Theatre is a great world to be a part of, but if you only look at it in black and white than you have no reason to judge it. It's not about gay propaganda, as I stated before, theatre is about putting yourself in another persons shoes and having sympathy for them and the situation your in. It not, nor has it ever been, about degrading someone on stage for some uneducated and immature audiences benefit.