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Judi Dench: People who need trigger warnings shouldn’t go to the theatre
Actress expresses shock that ‘guidance’ about potentially distressing content had been placed on Shakespeare plays
People who require trigger warnings before theatre performances should stay at home, according to Dame Judi Dench.
The actress expressed shock that warnings about potentially distressing content had been placed on Shakespeare plays.
“Do they do that? My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before King Lear or Titus Andronicus,” she told Radio Times.
“I can see why they exist, but if you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?”
Shakespeare’s Globe issued “content guidance” earlier this year for a production of Antony and Cleopatra, warning that it contained “depictions of suicide, scenes of violence and war, and misogynoir references”.
The alert for “misogynoir” was a portmanteau of “misogyny” and “noir”, the French word for black. The term was first coined by an American feminist scholar to refer to misogyny specifically directed at black people.
Last year, an ableism trigger warning was added to A Midsummer Night’s Dream after the Globe cast an actor with dwarfism, Francesca Mills. Producers explained that audiences may become distressed by Helena’s famous line: “Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
The theatre also attached a warning to a 2021 production of Romeo and Juliet over its “depictions of suicide, moments of violence and references to drug use”, plus gunshot sound effects and the use of fake blood. Contact details for the Samaritans were attached.
Dench’s comments echoed those made by Ralph Fiennes and Sir Ian McKellen.
Fiennes said: “We didn’t used to have trigger warnings. There are very disturbing scenes in Macbeth, terrible murders and things, but I think the impact of theatre is that you should be shocked and you should be disturbed.”
McKellen scoffed at a trigger warning on his most recent play, Frank and Percy, which mentioned strong language, sexual references, and themes of grief and death.
“I think it’s ludicrous,” he said. “I quite like to be surprised by loud noises and outrageous behaviour on stage.”
Another vocal critic of trigger warnings for theatre shows is Gregory Doran, director emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who said in April that he “hates” them.
‘Don’t come if you are worried’
He told an audience at London South Bank University: “How do you do [content warnings] for Titus Andronicus? You just don’t come. Don’t come if you are worried, if you are anxious – stay away.”
But those in favour of trigger warnings say it helps forewarn those with post-traumatic distress disorder (PTSD) to avoid topics or issues that might reinvoke trauma.
Shakespeare’s Globe has previously justified its content alerts by saying “we hope to provide an opportunity for all people to engage and participate in stories, told carefully, kindly, boldly, and bravely, with rigour, heart, and beautiful imperfection infused with a life-affirming desire to question what it means to be human and hopefully inspire us all to engage in the conversation”.
Dench is back on television in reruns of A Fine Romance, which originally aired on ITV from 1981-86. She starred opposite her real-life husband, the late Michael Williams.
The sitcom will be shown on a new channel, Rewind TV, which launches next week.
Dench, 89, joked that her macular degeneration meant that she did not have to compare how she looked now with her younger self in the show. “It’s rather blessed I can’t see any more – I can ignore the bits I don’t want to look at,” she said.