Ian McKellen Speaks Out Against Use of Trigger Warnings in FRANK AND PERCY

Ian McKellen has once again spoken out about his dislike for trigger warnings being posted outside of theatres. In a recent interview with Sky News about Frank and Percy, the play he is currently starring in, McKellen shared his opinion, one he had previously shared earlier this month as well.

"Outside theatres and in the lobbies, including this one, the audience is warned 'there is a loud noise and at one point', there are flashing lights', 'there is reference to smoking', 'there is reference to bereavement'," he said.

"I think it’s ludicrous, myself, yes, absolutely. I quite like to be surprised by loud noises and outrageous behaviour on stage."

Check out the full interview here.

This is not the first time McKellen has shared these views. Speaking with The Evening Standard earlier this month, he shared, “I think, on the whole, speech should be free, and freely available. And perhaps sometimes combine that with a health warning."

"Why can’t they, when someone with strong points of view that you don’t agree with is coming to your university, why don’t they just say outside, this person will be talking about these topics? So the audience can make up its own mind."

Check out that interview here.

About Frank and Percy

Ben Weatherill’s new comedy, Frank and Percy, is now running at The Other Palace in London.  The production, starring Ian McKellen (Percy) and Roger Allam (Frank) and directed by Sean Mathias, will run until Sunday 17 December.  

Frank and Percy is a poignant and witty take on the unexpected relationship that blossoms between two men. Devoted to their canine companions, they believe that human connection is far more temperamental, but, as their dogs play in the park, can Frank, a widowed schoolteacher, and Percy, a somewhat radical elder statesman, find the time for new love, or should they just let sleeping dogs lie?

About Ian McKellen

Previously to Frank and Percy, Ian McKellen played Hamlet, followed by Firs in The Cherry Orchard in Sean Mathias’s inaugural summer season at Theatre Royal Windsor in 2021.  Ian’s performance as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films made him one of the world’s biggest film stars, but in spite of that and his further iconic screen performances in such box office hits as The X-Men Trilogy, he has never forsaken his first love - theatre.  McKellen won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Amadeus in 1981 and won six Olivier Awards for his performances in Pillars of the Community (1977), The Alchemist (1978), Bent (1979), Wild Honey (1984), Richard III (1991) and Ian McKellen on Stage: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU (2020).