Black child actor heckled and booed during Royal Opera House performance of Alcina

Venue has ‘taken steps’ to ensure that the disruptive audience member will not return

Malakai M Bayoh as Oberto in ‘Alcina’ (ROH/Marc Brenner)

A Black child performer was heckled during the Royal Opera House production of Alcina.

The central London venue is currently showing the Handel opera until 26 November. On Tuesday (8 November), young actor Malakai M Bayoh gave his debut performance in the role of Oberto.

Soon after the evening’s show, audience members shared on social media that there had been a disturbance during Bayoh’s solo, caused by someone in the crowd.

“Vile behaviour from one audience member at Alcina at the Royal Opera House,” began one tweet by journalist Rebecca Franks. “He booed and heckled the young boy singing (in a lovely way) Oberto. Thankfully, the rest of the audience drowned the heckler out with extra-loud, heartfelt applause. But, seriously, who boos a child?!”

Others chimed in with messages of support for Bayoh, and condemned the audience member for his reaction.

“He should be banned for life. Mockery when singing can cause near irreparable psychological trauma that plays on loop,” one person wrote on Twitter.

Another opera fan added: “I sincerely hope you ban this awful person from the building. To heckle a child that has put [himself] in such a daunting and vulnerable position is despicable. I hope Malakai’s spirits aren’t dampened by this mean coward.”

Others suggested that the heckler’s actions may have been due to racial prejudice, as Bayoh is a Black opera performer. One person wrote: “Individual bigots have now been emboldened to spew this without repercussion. How can a grown man be so repulsed by a Black child to want to psychologically affect him on stage.”

In a statement shared with The Independent, a spokesperson for the Royal Opera House shared the company’s appreciation for Bayoh’s work as well as their “appalled” reaction to the behaviour of the audience member.

“We would like to congratulate Malakai M Bayoh for his stellar performance as Oberto in our first night of Alcina,” the message reads. “Malakai is astonishingly talented – bringing great acting and beautiful singing to the role – a huge accomplishment for such a young singer.

“Unfortunately, the opening night of Alcina featured an audience member who disrupted the show and Malakai’s excellent performance. We are appalled that a member of the audience behaved in this way, and our support is with Malakai and the cast and creative team of Alcina.”

The statement concluded by stating that the company had “taken steps” to ensure that the offending audience member would not be permitted to return for future shows.