Quite reasonably, vampire fans expect a theatre production to have some bite, with plenty of gore and violence. It is horror, after all. But one leading theatre has put a trigger warning on a Dracula show – because it features blood. Bosses at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, west London, fear audiences may be disturbed – apparently not realising that being disturbed is precisely what the customers are paying for.
We all know why this warning is needed - it's to avoid snowflakes rushing to the nearest ambulance chasing lawyer and suing the theatre.
Those dusting off their capes to see theatre’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula will be warned: ‘Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Dracula – based on the novel by Bram Stoker – contains themes of gender-based violence, including visual allusions to sexual assault; death, including of children; blood; abduction; depictions of grief and distress following trauma; the use of weapons; and reference to hanging.’ The theatre adds that the production includes ‘language and scenes that may impact some audience members’. The details of a mental health charity are being handed out in case any audience members are particularly unnerved by the show.
This is merely the showbiz equivalent of the warning 'Contains nuts' on the packet of peanuts they hand out on a flight - if they still do that at all, I haven't been on a flight for years. ButI do have streaming services and trigger warnings are on everything these days, and for the most bizarre reason: 'animals hunting' was one the other day. On a nature documentary!
The trigger warning on Dracula follows one on Hamlet at the National Theatre in London, where audiences were alerted to ‘coercive behaviour’ in the play. Shakespearean actor Brian Blessed, 88, hit out at theatre bosses as ‘ignorant pigs’, saying: ‘It’s f***ing Shakespeare... the greatest writer on the planet.’
And we remember what he wrote about lawyers, don't we Brian?
‘LONDON: The vampire play “Dracula,” now being played here, has such a harrowing effect upon the audiences that a trained nurse has been appointed by the theatre management to attend sufferers. Last night during the first act a woman went into hysterics and four other women fainted during the performance. The lessee of the theatre, Jose Levy, says that men seem to suffer more than women. Five men collapse to every woman. The management is so tired of calling for aid from a nearby hospital that it has engaged a trained nurse. Some of the victims, on recovery, return to their seats and see the play through.
ReplyDelete(New York Times, March 11, 1927)
Similar reports in the British press were largely responsible for turning the play into a runaway success and taking it to Broadway and beyond; clearly our forebears were made of sterner stuff.
They were indeed, Macheath.
Delete"the warning 'Contains nuts' on the packet of peanuts they hand out on a flight"
ReplyDeleteGiven that peanuts are legumes, not nuts, the warning (of 'may contain' instead of 'does contain') is somewhat valid.
A fairer comparison would be "contains milk" On milk cartons. Which is apparently a thing.
eg https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/jywfd0/if_you_ever_feel_useless_just_remember_that_mill/
What were they expecting? Dora the Explorer with fangs? Makes you wonder....
ReplyDelete