Queen Mother play given trigger warning over ‘1970s attitudes’
‘This play is set in 1979 and reflects some of the attitudes, language, and conventions of the time’
A PLAY about Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother, has been given a trigger warning because it is set in the 1970s.
Penelope Wilton stars in Backstairs Billy, a show about the Queen Mother and her friendship with her right-hand man, aide William Tallon, which is playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.
Signs have been put up in the theatre’s bars warning audience members: “This play is set in 1979 and consequently reflects some of the attitudes, language, and conventions of the time.”
It is unusual to see physical trigger warnings. The recent trend toward providing such advice is most often seen online.
The play stars Wilton as the Queen Mother after she stepped back from the day-to-day duties of royal life.
In her service is William “Billy” Tallon, played by Luke Evans, whose antics are said to be based on rumours the Clarence House aide invited a male prostitute to the residence.
The play by Marcelo Dos Santos includes references to Tallon’s same-sex relationships.
Known as a consummate host who knew how to keep guests’ glasses full, Tallon’s personal life became the focus of tabloid attention, but he was beloved by the Queen Mother and enjoyed a long career in her service until her death in 2002.
The play is one of a number of London productions deemed worthy of trigger warnings to alert audiences to their potentially upsetting content.
For a Young Vic production of a play called Further than the Furthest Thing, audiences were warned that the show “involves the handling of cooked egg”, reportedly over concerns about allergies among audience members.
And this week it was revealed that Shakespeare’s Globe in south London had given Antony and Cleopatra a trigger warning for “misogynoir” after updating the play with a diverse cast.
The term “misogynoir” is a portmanteau of “misogyny” and “noir” (the French word for black), and was coined by a feminist American professor to refer to misogyny specifically directed against black women.
Trigger warnings have in recent years also become a feature of the publishing industry.
Reprints of classic works including novels by Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, PG Wodehouse and Virginia Woolf have all been issued with a disclaimer in the opening pages.
These typically warn that the literary works contain views which may be offensive to modern readers.
In the foyer of the Duke of York’s Theatre, London, where the comedy Backstairs Billy has been running for three months, a placard stands amid selections from rave reviews (“Perfect,” Daily Telegraph). It is a trigger warning of the language and attitudes represented – because the play is set in 1979. That year was indeed another country, if not beyond the power of memory to revisit. On television Are You Being Served? was in full swing, The Black and White Minstrel Show had just ended its 20-year run, and cinemas were showing Carry On Emmannuelle, Kenneth Williams’s 26th film in the series. Margaret Thatcher told the Commons that Anthony Blunt was the Fourth Man. But old photographs show that flares for boys and girls and orange wallpaper for everyone might be the style statements of the time now most likely to offend.