Interrupting with a bang

At the theatre on Saturday, a young woman sitting at the other end of the front row to me was hit by a stray pyrotechnic.

The lights were off at that point to accentuate the chaos of an action scene, but it was clear from the glowing projectile's trajectory that it had left the stage area and gone into the crowd.

Then the audience members directly around the woman began to react, and a voice shouted, "STOP!" I assumed that was the stage manager.

As people tended to the poor lass who'd been struck and called for water, resulting in bottles being offered, a different(?) voice said, "I'm so sorry."

The actors filed off the stage, all of the lights came on and we anxiously waited to learn if the young lady was OK. It turned out that her coat had been burnt and, I think, her ear as well. She was extremely fortunate that the firework didn't catch her in the face.

As for how the accident happened...I can only speculate that a tube meant to launch upwards either fell or was knocked over, causing it to instead point into the stalls. That could be 100% wrong.

The young lady was a model of grace under pressure. Can't say I'd have kept as cool. As she allowed herself to be led away for medical examination or whatever, she even delivered an utterly unnecessary, "Sorry, everyone." It triggered a warm round of applause.

When the actors returned to the stage, they were also clapped. I reckon they lifted their performances for the remainder of the show. Perhaps they received an emergency pep talk or maybe it was just their professionalism.

I hope the young woman wasn't too traumatised by her experience. They should give her a lifetime pass to that theatre. I doubt she'll want to sit in the front row again, though. And who could blame her?