In this paper, I began with the question of why we are able to ignore a cry for help. Much has been written on how we are able to shut ourselves off from the visual representation of another person’s pain, but little of that has been equally tested in auditory representations. In Manjula Padmanabhan’s play, Lights Out, a traumatic event is happening right outside the window. Set in an apartment, the play chronicles the reactions of the people inside to the gang-rape happening outside. While the audience is not able to see the action outside the window, we can hear the sound of a woman screaming and begging for someone to help her. And yet, no one responds. By connecting notions of apathy, voice, subaltern studies, and affective response, I argue for the importance of the expression of pain in creating the potential for empathetic action in members of the audience to Lights Out.