What effect do trigger warnings have? Tiffany Antone dares theatres to avoid sanitising performances for fear of offending audiences.
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud... 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud...
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom...Keep reading on HowlRound
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud...
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud...
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud... 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom.
- See more at: http://howlround.com/how-pc-is-too-pc-a-look-at-trigger-warnings-and-aud...
In 2014, Little Black Dress INK’s ONSTAGE festival lineup included a powerful little “rape comedy” by playwright Jennie Webb that both challenged and scared me. At ten minutes, Rebecca on the Bus, managed to make me laugh and squirm every time I read it, and yet I knew that it was going to be a hot spot in our festival lineup. In a bid to be responsible to audiences who may take issue with a play about rape using satire to deliver its message, I included a trigger warning in our program:
“This play deals with an account of rape that may be troubling to some people.”
Because we had presented the play in two earlier staged readings and an open dress rehearsal, I knew that the playwright’s raw humor and pathos worked. Unfortunately, the trigger warning seemed to serve as a muffler for our audiences during performance, as though it left them stifled with responsible notions of what is and is not allowably laughable, preventing them from indulging in the play’s humor. The result was an audience both quiet and uncomfortable before the play had hit the gut-punch point that was supposed to leave them squirming.
This experience left me with the distinct impression that I had erred on the side of “covering my bases” rather than trusting the audience to understand what the playwright was trying to show them. In my desire “Not to offend,” I had cheated both the playwright and my “delicate” audience of an effective and satisfying catharsis, which left me wondering if the recent trend of doubling down on political correctness is cheating both us and our audiences of creative freedom...Keep reading on HowlRound