Judi Dench Criticizes Use of Trigger Warnings: 'If You're That Sensitive, Don't Go to the Theatre'

Judi Dench is the latest performer to speak out on the topic of the usage of trigger warnings in the theater. Dench, in an interview with Radio Times, expressed her understanding for the reason why they are used, before going on to criticize people who need them, stating that if they're "that sensitive, don't go to the theatre."

"Do they do that? My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before King Lear or Titus Andronicus! Crikey, is that really what happens now?" she said.

"I can see why they exist, and it is preparing people, I suppose, 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?"

Dench then went on to compare trigger warnings to spoilers, stating that she wouldn't want to be told what happens in a play.

"Why go to the theatre if you're going to be warned about things that are in the play? Isn’t the whole business of going to the theatre about seeing something that you can be excited, surprised, or stimulated by?", she said. "It’s like being told they're all dead at the end of King Lear. I don't want to be told."

Read the original story on Radio Times.

Many other performers have expressed their negative opinions on the usage of trigger warnings in the theater, notably, Ralph Fiennes who spoke out earlier this year.

“I think we didn’t use to have trigger warnings," he said this February. "I mean, they are very disturbing scenes in Macbeth, terrible murders and things. But I think the impact of theatre should be that you’re shocked and you should be disturbed. I don’t think you should be prepared for these things and when I was young, (we) never had trigger warnings for shows.”

Ian McKellen also spoke out against the use of trigger warnings in his production of Frank and Percy, in September of last year.

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