"Take care of the audience, but the theatre is supposed to make you uncomfortable. It's supposed to make you fearful. The Greeks wrote those plays because they wanted you to look at your inner darkness. If we mollycoddle the audience too much, what's the point? Noting that some universities will not study Shakespeare because they don't want to upset students, Doyle said: Shakespeare wrote about everything that there is to be about the human condition at its darkest. Incest, murder, regicide, you name it, he wrote about it."
"Trigger warnings inform audiences that they may find a particular drama distressing, alerting them to everything from violence to loud noises. The Royal Shakespeare Company has included what it describes as content advisory notices in its new touring production of Hamlet, telling audiences that it contains scenes of an adult nature including death and depictions of grief. There's a big debate that should be had about how we inform our audiences and how we sustain the surprise and disturbance that is intrinsic in playmaking."
Trigger warnings before plays risk mollycoddling audiences and sanitising theatre. Theatre should make audiences uncomfortable and fearful, prompting confrontation with inner darkness. Greek tragedy and Shakespeare exemplify drama that examines the human condition at its darkest, including incest, murder and regicide. Excessive warnings can remove surprise and disturbance intrinsic to playmaking and undermine artistic purpose. Some universities avoid studying Shakespeare to prevent upsetting students. The Royal Shakespeare Company has used content advisory notices for a touring Hamlet production citing adult themes, death and depictions of grief. A public debate is needed on informing audiences while preserving theatrical shock and surprise.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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