Character issue: smoking

"Put out that cigarette!"

A woman shouted these words from the second row of the audience at a Nov. 13 performance of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" in Mestre, Italy, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The actor who had just lighted a cigarette, in accordance with his role in Miller's '50s drama, stopped the show for 15 minutes, then returned to the stage to resume his performance, no longer smoking and using a slightly modified script.

The incident, which occurred in the wake of a sweeping Italian anti-smoking law that went into effect in January, is one of the most dramatic examples of the uncertainty in theatrical circles over smoking onstage.

Modern concerns over the health risks of tobacco smoke -- for actors, stage crews and audiences -- are frequently clashing with artists' assertions that smoking is an important and revealing aspect of the characters and eras they are depicting.

In California, the state Labor Code was amended to ban tobacco smoking "in an enclosed space at a place of employment," effective Jan. 1, 1998. However, No. 7 on a list of 12 enclosed areas where smoking could still take place is "theatrical production sites, if smoking is an integral part of the story."

So far, "integral" is defined by producers and the artists who work for them. But this hasn't prevented their decisions from being second-guessed -- particularly by audience members.

In the Geffen Playhouse's production of Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," John Goodman's Big Daddy twice lights a cigar during the second act and takes a few puffs. Big Daddy refers to his own smoking with these words: "I must have taken in too much smoke. It made me a little dizzy."

Psychologist Lyn Greenberg, who says her respiratory illness precludes her attendance at plays where actors are smoking, contacted the Geffen before the production opened and requested that Big Daddy use a fake, unlit cigar. Another "Cat" revival she had seen used such a prop, she said.

After a series of e-mails between Greenberg and the Geffen, and offers by the Geffen to change her seat location or refund her ticket, the playhouse management finally decided to offer a smoke-free performance of "Cat" on Sunday. Goodman was expected to wield the cigar but not smoke it.