Undercover Agent Shuts Down Bradbury Play

Joe Littrell forwarded me this strange news story posted at scifidimensions.com. I can't tell if it's real or a joke.

Supposedly a man identifying himself as "Agent Egan," a California "undercover investigator," halted a performance of Ray Bradbury's play Dandelion Wine at the Fremont Center Theatre, half an hour into the performance. Bradbury himself was in the audience.
The play, one of Bradbury’s most autobiographical works, includes performances by several young actors, and when the announcement was made from the stage about the cancellation 30 minutes after the scheduled start time, reference was made to an obscure California law requiring a State of California licensed teacher to be present at all performances with young actors. The company spokesman said, however, that they had never before been advised about such a requirement, and certainly not at show time. The play’s director, Alan Neal Hubbs, later suggested to this reporter that the play’s cancellation might have more to do with Mr. Egan’s finding an excuse to shut down the performance due to his previously having been denied free tickets to the play...

When this reporter approached the official for a photo-interview to explain why he had shut down the performance, he threatened to confiscate this reporter’s camera on the claim that he worked as an undercover police officer; however, when asked by this reporter to produce a badge or other official identification, “Egan” refused.

If this incident really happened, and if it's not some kind of publicity stunt, it seems incredible that a theater would halt a play on the word of some random guy claiming to be an undercover agent who refuses to show any kind of identification.

Entertainment Law/Police/Crime

Posted on Thu Oct 25, 2007



Comments

Good publicity though. Now all sorts of people who object to the "police" interfering with "art" will buy tickets to show their solidarity with the artists. I have great respect for Mr. Bradbury, and I really like his work, so I doubt that he had anything to do with this if it is a fake. And wasn't a cop named Eagan a main character in some famous story or series? The name sounds familiar but I can't place it.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Thu Oct 25, 2007  at  03:40 PM
You might be thinking Eckels, from "A Sound Of Thunder".
Posted by Yaanu  on  Thu Oct 25, 2007  at  04:42 PM
Yaanu, I might be thinking of Epps, from Numb3rs, or of an Eagan who was the villian in one of the Nero Wolfe novels. I don't think it is the reference you mention because I've never read or watched "A Sound of Thunder" as far as I remember.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Thu Oct 25, 2007  at  05:31 PM
I can't believe they fell for it. Doesn't anyone challenge authority anymore, legitimate or not? It was probably one of the stagecraft union reps. When the Hollywood Bowl is closed for the season they've got nothing to do.
Posted by David B.  on  Thu Oct 25, 2007  at  05:57 PM
This might be payback over some recent scathing essays Ray has produced on media topics; Would not surprise me at all, as some US media are starting to become very sensitive to the littel criticism they get.

And yes, it was Eccles who tried to kill a T Rex and got a butterfly instead. DO NOT see the movie it is a mess, but the story is very good and was adapted by EC comics in a very elegant form as well. There is an Aussie SF Author named Egan who writes in a style that has been compare dto Bradbury . . . And he is a Hard SF writer, which is the opposite themata to Ray, so maybe this is some SFnal infight going on.
Posted by D F Stuckey  on  Sun Oct 28, 2007  at  05:03 AM
Buying the tickets yourself is one of the main signs of support anyone can do. Expecting to get them for free is just another one of those things that will eventually kill art and true artists
Posted by Tickets  on  Sun Dec 02, 2007  at  04:20 AM
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