SLAPPED HIS FACE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 956, 26 April 1930, Page 30

SLAPPED HIS FACE

ACTRESS ASSAILS “CATCALLER” At the Palace Theatre, Bath, during the second house of a revue “High Toppers,” last month, Miss Jean Collins, the leading lady, left the stage and slapped the face of a man sittingin the stalls. The incident followed interruptions ar.d cat-calls during Miss Collins’s song with Jack Mayo, the leading comedian. “I tried hard to carry on,” she said in an interview, “but the disturbance was too much. It was the first time that anything has made me cry on the stage. If such a thing occurred again I should feel justified in repeating the action.” “It was Jean’s big scene,” said Mr. Mayo, “and it was tough on her to have it ruined. The tears were rolling down her cheeks while she was singing.” At the end of the performance Jack Mayo, in a sp,eecli from the stage, said, amid cheers; “We have been playing all over the country and have never been subjected to such a thing before. Even if a fellow buys a stall he does not own the whole theatre.” The man who was slapped, a wellknown Bath man, is highly indignant, contending that he w r as not responsible for the conduct which aroused Miss Collins’s resentment. “She singled out the wrong man,” he said. “I shall expect an apology from her in writing. If it is not forthcoming I shall consult my solicitors.”