The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis put on a performance of the classic Dickens story. I would have been a bit peevish that it was put on before Thanksgiving, but that’s not what set Karen off. No, it was the introduction.
The incident last Friday began shortly after Haj, who directed “Carol,” gave a curtain speech welcoming everyone back to their “theater home.” Then the lights went down on the 47th edition of the Guthrie’s “Carol.” It was perhaps the most diverse production of the holiday classic to date, with a script by a Hindu playwright, staging by a Palestinian American director and a design team whose multicultural backgrounds matched that of the cast.
Then, the screeching began.
First play at the Guthrie in over 600 days. Still hasn’t been kicked out. pic.twitter.com/II4d2XJKjs
— Jake (@ekajmw) November 13, 2021
It’s kind of hard to understand, but she’s screaming about it being a British play, and at one point I hear her complaining about it being “Shakespearean”, but here’s a summary of her tirade.
The Guthrie also addressed the content of the woman’s vitriol, which delayed “Carol” for 30 minutes and caused some people to leave the theater. The woman objected to a Palestinian director staging “Carol,” which she termed “a Christian play.” She also spewed anti-Black venom, removed her mask and spit on patrons.
…
“She started mumbling right away that this is a Muslim adaptation of a Christian play,” he said. “Soon she started to berate two women taking a selfie. Then she was telling people to go back to the country they came from and calling a Black man a Black [expletive]. She was out for violence.”The woman had removed her mask, which the theater requires all patrons to wear. When Caldeira asked her to put it back on, he said she was enraged.
“She started coughing and spitting all over me and my friend,” Caldeira said. “It was scary and frightening. I think the Guthrie has to do more to show what their real values are.”
What a nasty little snowflake. Now I feel like I should go check out the play and support the performance.
After Thanksgiving.
Now Rittenhouse has been acquitted, will episodes like this lead to shooting?
Presumably, she had a ticket, and must not have done much research on this production before deciding to attend. Performances vary. My sister got the opportunity to play Scrooge a couple of years ago. That would have sent this Karen over the edge. She clearly doesn’t know much about British writers, either, since A Christmas Carol was not only not written by Shakespeare, but 200-some years after he died.
My wife was at that play. Our 11 year old (fairy) god-daughter rolled her eyes and called her a Karen. My wife didn’t know the term and I had to explain it to her. We had a good laugh at Karen’s expense.
Also, apparently this person is known in the city as someone who likes to disrupt events with her tirades.
“Shakespearean” Ha bloody Ha .
Strange fucking country you Americans have made for yourselves ,is there any chance of an appeal ,or a mistrial ?
Strange fucking country indeed !
@4 Sounds like she needs a city wide ban on attending public events .
As for A christmas carol being a christian play ,my take on it is that he was let down by his girlfriend while a young man ,and has been a git ever since .Don’t know if the church are all that keen of spirits wandering around during the holidays .
Anyhow the bestest version on film is Scrooge (1951) with Alastair Sim playing the lead .
This Karen is just the ghost of Covidiots Past.
Perhaps this is the new American Christmas trend – A Christmas Karen.
Ebenezzia Scrooge, who runs a dreary little real estate business somewhere in North Florida, is visited by three ghosts (there were supposed to be four, but Marley was the name of a famous black person so that’s right out) who try, patiently, to show her the error of her ways. She refuses to listen to any of them, asks to speak to their manager, and is eventually asked to leave the world of dreams for being a shocking racist. Waking up the next morning she feels vindicated and campaigns to deny Tiny Tim the basic healthcare he needs before going on Fox News to decry how woke the afterlife has become.
Much better than the original screenplay by Geoffrey Chaucer.
@7 davidc1: “he was let down by his girlfriend”. I think rather that he let her down. Spark Notes says “Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another.” You’re right that he was a git after that.
Delayed the play by 30 minutes. That’s white privilege for you.
@7 davidc1 – call me a purist, but I prefer the Patrick Stewart film.
And according to the Gospel of John, Jesus said unto Peter, before morn ye shall deny me three ghosts or is that not quite right?
It is really interesting how things completely foreign to the Bible have ended up as part of “Christianity.”
@10 Thanks for that .
@12 Bah humbug
I think Blackadders’s christmas carol strays from the original a great deal ,can’t remember reading where Tiny Tim goes “Phew ,My Leg Hurts “.
I wonder if she had ever seen any version of the play before. Dickens was quite obviously a flaming liberal, and all his business about how we should fear poverty and ignorance and how the wealthy have an obligation to help the poor would hardly go over with today’s GOP.
@brucegee1962:
The Spirit of Christmas Present, referring to two children that Scrooge saw clinging to his robes:
One of my favourite lines of the book, and one that gets sadly left out of far too many adaptations. I actually used that line in a story I wrote which was set at a homeless shelter at Christmas, mostly to set up the next line about “Dealing with Ignorance is a longer-term project, but for tonight, let’s at least try to deal with Want.”
And yes, Dickens wrote about the plight of the poor a lot to make sure that people actually understood how horrible things were for the sorts of people who couldn’t afford to buy books or go to the theatre. Unfortunately, then as now, a lot of people refuse to listen or insist that it obviously must be their own fault anyway.
there is no arguing with the deliberately ignorant and self-important A..holes like that where ever they are encountered.
Like finding a fresh turd on the carpet no discussion needed just get rid of it immediately.Take it outside and put it in the bin.
Sounds to me like she should have been put down immediately, tied and gagged, dragged from the theater, and handed over to the police, all in the interests of personal safety. Surely, we must retain some rights towards protecting ourselves.
@4, @7 – are you kidding The Mr Magoo Christmas Carol was the BEST (re watched it last year it more tyhan holds up – the grave robber song is still catchy and creepy as heck – and the Ghost of Christmas yet to come is STILL the scariest! those shrieking strings!!!) The George C Scott version is right behind!
There are a lot of fair, to good, to excellent, versions of A Christmas Carol. I love the Patrick Stewart version. Not many versions include the hearse going up the stairway, although most showings of the Patrick Stewart version have that bit cut out (at least in the USA). However, my favorite is The Muppet Christmas Carol, some good tunes in that one.
But I think the worst one was the Vincent Price version. They tried to cram the whole thing into 25 minutes. Needless to say, it is abysmal.
@ flex, # 20: Don’t forget the Henry Winkler version.
I have to agree with davidC1, the Alastair Sim version was the best.
There was an animated version that used to play on TV from 1971-1974 or so. I was rather fond of it. It was my first introduction to the story and seemed the right length at 25 minutes. (Of course, I haven’t seen it since I was 13 so my memory of quality may be … off).
Some ten percent of Palestinians are Christians. Bethlehem is in Palestine and up to the end of the last century was Christian majority (and Christians in Bethlehem blame the Israeli occupation for dwindling Christian numbers in Bethlehem). Not to mention 100% of Jesus’ disciples were. And his Mum! And (let’s be honest here) his Dad!
Thank you for recommending that Patrick Stewart Christmas Carol . That was splendid ! It’s on Youtube
Not to mention Christmas is only relatively recently celebrated as a serious Christian holiday and ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a lot more about how you shouldn’t be a stingy asshole and should be open, kind and warm with people in your community.
There is a serious need for the visitation of three ghosts to bedsides or so many people this season.
@4 andersk3
If it’s true that she is well known for interrupting performances by standing up and launching into tirades, perhaps this is less a case of privilege white or otherwise and more a case of mental illness. I hope she is able to get the help she needs.
cartomancer @9: Brilliant! Let me know when I can buy a ticket and/or which streaming service it will be shown on.
I hope someone tells her where her Jesus was born one day.
Reginald Owen as Scrooge. 1938. The humanity and joy of it always works for me.
Silver lining: The video showed that the crowd wasn’t having any of her shit.
@26 brucegee1962
One does not preclude the other. If she were a Black woman doing this, she’d have been tackled and dragged out in cuffs at best, mental illness notwithstanding.
Used to be you just called unpleasant women c*nt.
and that was bad
Now you can use karen and everyone is OK with it.
Omg why didn’t security take her out. She spit on people and that’s legally assault. She could be infectious with TB or Covid or even just a headcold
This seems like another mentally ill person to me, a bit like the masturbating chap the other day.
Some of the lunatic propaganda around gives these folk something to focus on, but I don’t think it’s the causative issue.
Cartomancer @9:
This gave me an idea to write a A Stoner’s Christmas Carol that features both Bob Marley and musician Tiny Tim with his ukulele.
No love for Albert Finney and the musical version, Scrooge? I always thought it was great fun, with memorable numbers, fine costumes, and a great cast. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is scary as hell, and the ‘Thank You Very Much’ number always makes me smile.
But, yes, the Alastair Sim version is the best.
@16 jenorafeuer:
Thanks for that quote.
The audiobook of A Christmas Carol read by Tim Curry is amazing. Unfortunately it is only available on Audible.
I have very conflicted feelings about ‘Only from Audible’ titles. The biggest negative is the titles are not made available to public libraries to purchase (rent?) and lend, nor can others record many of those contracted titles. On the other hand many books would never have been recorded (or published) without Audible’s aide. They can probably change the first item without significantly impacting the second.
But nobody kicked her ass? She’ll just be back, and worse.
@ 32 chigau
Wow, thanks for your really smart comment. Until now, I had no idea “c*nt” was a term coined by African-American women to represent a typical “white” name and describe an archetype of entitled and implicitly racist behaviour.
Bless your heart.
Silentbob, if you’ve seen my comments at Mano’s, you know that the term ‘Karen’ as a generic epithet annoys me. It’s actually a proper name, and not restricted to white women. Or was.
I care not one whit what demographic coined the term. I care that PZ and Mano have adopted it.
I’m not part of the wannabe herd, so I haven’t.
(John)
PS from your link: “Karen is generally stereotyped as having a blonde bob haircut”
(Heh. A silent bob, they have)
Silentbob
Do you really think that “Karen” is currently used to describe “entitled and implicitly racist behaviour”?
Really?
Have a nice day.
@16 Well Charlie boy had first hand experience of being poor ,his father was a debtor who ended up in the Marshalsea prison .
So Charles had to finish school and work in a bootblack factory ,don’t know what that is ,but it sounds dreadful .
@ 42 chigau
Sorry for the late response but this made me laugh.
From the OP:
Yeah, I see what you mean – no sign of “entitled or implicitly racist” behaviour there. I humbly apologise… for the use of the word “implicit”. Dipshit.