A prominent West End director has criticized trigger warnings on theater productions and warned anxious audience members to simply avoid plays so as not to be upset by potentially distressing content.
Gregory Doran, director emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its former artistic director, commented on the trigger warnings while speaking to an audience at London South Bank University last week.
He spoke to students in a question-and-answer session following a lecture on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, during which someone asked his opinion on trigger warnings.
The scene reports that he has revealed that he “hates” public warnings – mirroring the sentiment expressed by Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith earlier this year.
He said: “How are you doing (content warnings) for Titus Andronicus? You just don’t come. Don’t come if you’re worried, if you’re anxious – stay away.
Gregory Doran, who became artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012 and held the position until 2022, issued trigger warnings to the public.
The Shakespeare play in question features scenes of rape and violence in which prisoners take revenge on the eponymous character, a Roman general, and attack his children.
In response, Titus kills two of the prisoners and bakes them into a pie which he serves to their mother before killing her as well.
Mr Doran became artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare company in 2012, succeeding Michael Boyd. In 2022, he takes on the role of director emeritus.
During his lecture in which he spoke about his 1994 production of Titus Andronicus, he discussed the extreme violence that characterizes the play and its importance in today’s “violent world.”
Doran’s comments echo arguments made on Sunday by Ralph Fiennes with Laura Kuenssberg last month.
Doran was speaking to an audience at a lecture on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus which depicts physical and sexual violence.
His comments on trigger warnings come after comedian Ralph Fiennes made a similar argument last month.
Appearing with Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, he suggested audiences had “gone too soft” and argued some stage performances should leave viewers “shocked and disturbed”.
The Harry Potter star, 61, added that the element of surprise is “what makes the threat so exciting.”
“I don’t think you have to be prepared for this sort of thing and when I was growing up we never had trigger warnings before a show,” he maintained.
The actor added that he would remove trigger warnings, but keep in place notifications about strobe lighting and other accessories that could harm a person’s health.
“Shakespeare’s plays are full of murder and horror, and as a young student and lover of menace, I never felt any trigger warnings like, by the way, King Lea Gloucester is going to have his teeth ripped off eyes,” he said.
“Theatre must be alive and present. It’s the shock, it’s the unexpected, that’s what makes theater so exciting.
The calls join a chorus of voices in the theater industry, including Christopher Biggins and Sir Ian McKellen, who want trigger warnings removed.
Last year, Sir McKellen blasted trigger warnings after ridiculing the placards during his own play Frank and Percy at The Other Palace in London.
A warning has been placed on the theater’s website saying the show contains strong language, sexual references and discussions of grief and cancer.
The 84-year-old said: “Outside the rooms and in the halls, including this one, the public is warned “there is a loud noise and at one point there are flashing lights “, “there is a reference to smoking”, “there is a reference to mourning”.
He added: “I think it’s ridiculous, myself, yes, absolutely. I like being surprised by loud noises and outrageous behavior on stage.
Bosses at London’s famous Globe Thrace have come under fire in 2022 after issuing warnings ahead of Shakespeare’s century-old play Julies Ceasar.
The Roman dictator was stabbed to death in the corridors of Rome’s Senate, a scene that features in the modern production of Shakespeare’s classic.
But the Globe – which is on the site of the Bard’s original performance hall – alerts audiences before performances that the show will contain “stage blood and weapons, including knives.”
It warned: “Content content: depictions of war, self-harm and suicide, depictions of blood and weapons, including knives. »
Actor Christopher Biggins blasted the theater: “Do we have to have signs for everything under the sun? It’s a joke. What they are trying to do is an insult to the mentality of theatergoers.