One woman went to an emergency room with fractured ribs after a brawl broke out at a theater performance in downtown Birmingham Friday night.

The fight involved about 20 people, and other injuries were minor, said Billy Ray Brewton, writer and director of "The Xmascist," a show at 2213 First Ave. North.

"It was probably the weirdest and most unexpected night of my life," Brewton said of Friday night's fight.

"We were mid-way through Act 2 of the show and there was a guy on a motorcycle outside revving up his engine. He was really loud for about four minutes, and it was really annoying," Brewton said. "One of our audience members got upset and stormed out and confronted the guy."

The audience member came back in, Brewton said, and about two minutes later, the biker returned with four or five other men.

"He pointed the guy out in the audience, and they started punching him and throwing him on the ground," Brewton said. "They started hitting folks and elbowing folks and throwing them down. Before you knew it it was like a 20-person brawl happening in the theater space. It lasted about two-and-a-half minutes.

"The worst part was that they were hitting women," Brewton said.

He and some others followed the guys when they left the building, but they all went different directions.

"A couple of them were on motorcycles, and the rest of them looked like they were in cars," Brewton said. "They were in their mid-20s."

The police arrived, but no charges were filed, Brewton said.

The last performance of "The Xmascist," a twisted holiday tale with elements of "The Exorcist," will go on as planned tonight at 8, and Brewton has tried to find a silver lining in what happened Friday night, using it to entice theatergoers.

"Wanna see a fun Christmas show on its closing night starring a group of hardcore brawlers?" he asks on Facebook.

And a makeshift poster on Facebook makes one thing clear: "Bikers not welcome!"