Bedbugs and Backstage Tension Were Factors in Scuttling of NYC's The Balcony, Players Say

By Adam Hetrick
October 23, 2012

Participants in Horizon Theatre Rep's cancelled production of The Balcony at Off-Off-Broadway's ArcLight Theatre are clarifying details about the show's shuttering, which was first attributed to the discovery of bedbugs backstage.

On Oct. 19, a representative for Horizon Theatre Rep's artistic director Rafael De Mussa issued a statement that the revival of the Jean Genet play The Balcony was scuttled after cast members reported they had been bitten by bedbugs backstage Oct. 10, the day before performances were to begin. The rental production was to play an Oct. 11-Nov. 4 engagement at the ArcLight.

De Mussa was forced to postpone the play's opening to allow for the extermination, and added at the time that restarting the run was not ultimately possible, citing another show already scheduled to move into the ArcLight Nov. 8.

Following the publication of the story on Oct. 19, Playbill.com was contacted by members of the production team, who wanted to shed light on Horizon Theatre Rep's original statement. They included director Frank Licato, ArcLight owner Michael Griffiths and cast members. In addition, Licato, De Mussa and the actors involved took to Twitter and Facebook to share their own accounts of the story.

"Like some of the nicest hotels and movie theatres in New York have recently experienced, we did find evidence of bedbugs in the dressing room and responded immediately by having a [New York]-state certified extermination company come and perform a thorough extermination with repeated follow ups," the venue's Griffiths told Playbill.com in a statement. "Thousands of dollars were spent to ensure a safe environment for the actors, crew and audience and we did present documentation to Mr. De Mussa to verify that problem was taken care of. The stage manager reported to me that the cast and crew were happy with our attention to this matter and were ready to resume rehearsal within 24 hours."

He continued, "It was also reported by the stage manager to me that Mr. De Mussa, who also cast himself in the production (as well as producing it), was experiencing major problems with the cast and director because of his producing inefficiencies and that they had decided to walk out of the production and that their choice had nothing to do with the previous bedbug incident."

De Mussa countered that he received an e-mail from ArcLight management team, suggesting "that 'bed bugs are a human parasite' and it was 'likely and probable the bugs came in via one of your cast members or one of the casts from the other shows.'" According to De Mussa, a certificate from Griffiths verifying that the theatre was free of bedbugs was never provided, as promised, and the company "could not responsibly invite the public to the theatre without adequate assurance that the bedbug infestation had been eliminated." De Mussa also added that concerned cast members had e-mailed him and were afraid they could not return to the venue without risking further bites.

The Balcony cast members Sheilagh Weymouth and Kevin Gilmartin also corroborated ArcLight owner Griffiths' statement that bedbugs were only part of a 24-hour delay in production schedule, adding that concurrent with the discovery of the pests, the company suffered the critical loss of a leading cast member who could not be replaced in time for opening. In addition, director Licato had been promised payment upon opening night of The Balcony, however, when the extermination forced a setback in the schedule, Licato demanded payment up front in cash from De Mussa in order to continue.

Horizon Theatre Rep artistic director De Mussa also confirmed via e-mail that there had been a dispute with Licato, "who had been promised payment on opening night, when he would have discharged his duties, but in view of the postponement demanded payment before the play opened, to which I did not agree."

Licato quit the production. The stage manager and five additional cast members also withdrew, forcing Horizon Theatre Rep to cancel the production. "The bedbug problem, and the consequences that flowed from their discovery on the eve of opening, were a blow that the production could not recover from," De Mussa stated.

The staging promised to "populate the chimerical classic with baby-kissing, pancake-eating, sleeves-rolled-up politicians who might be recognized from our current electoral campaigns. The idea is to illustrate the essential theme of the play: the transformation of our industrial society into a technocracy where image rules over substance."

Actress Weymouth added, "I cannot express in words the pain and loss and anger and frustration and sadness I personally feel to realize that five weeks of rehearsal of a most glorious project with a terrific director and stage manager, along with a superb lighting designer, superb sound designer, and superb set designer, have led us to this point. And, we pick ourselves up and go on to the next project."

Horizon Rep's last statement on the matter said the organization was negotiating with a new director and theatre space for The Balcony.