SHERIDAN Smith’s West End return Opening Night has proven more divisive than many expected - with some audience members even walking out.
The actress has embarked on a 21-week stint in the new musical at the Gielgud Theatre, a show based on the 1977 film with the same name.
But despite its striking premise - following an alcoholic theatre star who is left traumatised by the death of a teenage fan - it seems the story has been lost in translation.
Since the show opened, there has been a string of issues with the audience falling asleep, sneaking out in the interval, and now walking out while the performance is still on.
Critics were also split with their reviews.
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According to Daily Mail, around 50 audience members left before the final curtain across two separate performances, with the staff informing them it was a ‘regular occurrence’.
This was largely down to the confusing plot, use of a projecting character close-ups onto a giant video screen on stage, and its ‘chaotic and disjointed’ feeling.
One woman described it to the site as “weak and indulgent” and declared: “'We didn't understand what was going on in the first half.”
An unnamed theatre steward added: “I had to show two women out halfway through the second half because they said they needed the toilet – but they didn't come back.
“It's definitely a unique play.”
Created by avant-garde experimental theatre director Ivo van Hove, with music by Rufus Wainwright, Opening Night follows the life of the struggling Myrtle Gordon whose life is upended after seeing a teenage fan die in front of her.
Sheridan, who has openly discussed her own past battle with depression and alcohol addiction, has largely been praised for her portrayal of Myrtle, whose drunken battle results in a filmed piece of Sheridan crawling around the streets of Soho while onlookers watch on unimpressed.
When The Sun went to see the show at a preview, one theatregoer told us: "The entire row in front of me left during the interval. I wanted to, but I'm glad I didn't, as I would have missed the part of the show where Sheridan fights with a ghost while dubstep music is played.
"More people in the audience, sat quite near the front, got up and left in a huff during this moment too - while Sheridan was actually onstage."
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"Sheridan put on an excellent show, but the material she and the rest of the cast had been given to work with was pretty shocking - with poor songs and a dull storyline,” they added.
