On the controversial topic of trigger warnings, Judi Dench says that while she can understand why they exist, she doesn't understand why they'd be used before a play. "If you're that sensitive, don't go to the theater, because you could be very shocked," the 89-year-old said last week in an interview with Radio Times that was recently picked up by the Guardian. "Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way? Why go to the theater if you're going to be warned about things that are in the play? Isn't the whole business of going to the theater about seeing something that you can be excited, surprised, or stimulated by?"
She also remarked, "My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before King Lear or Titus Andronicus!" She's not the first to make such an observation:
- The former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare company recently made a similar comment, wondering how exactly content warnings would even be practical for some of Shakespeare's works: "You just don't come. Don't come if you are worried, if you are anxious—stay away."
- Earlier this year, Ralph Fiennes said people have "gone too soft" and should expect to be "shocked" and "disturbed" at some theatrical performances. "Theater needs to be alive and in the present. It's the shock, it's the unexpected, that's what makes the theatre so exciting," he said.
- Doctor Who and The Crown actor Matt Smith weighed in after Fiennes: "That's why we go to the theater, isn't it? To be shocked, to be arrested out of ourselves, to recognize ourselves in front and with an audience."
Even those who don't agree with content warnings in general, however, seem to agree they should be used for things that can affect people physically, such as strobe lights, which can cause seizures.
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This article originally appeared on Newser: Judi Dench: If You Need a Content Warning, Stay Home
