What fright through yonder window breaks?
WILLIAM Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy includes the haunting line: “These violent delights have violent ends.”
But poetic as it is, this warning is simply not enough protection for sensitive audience members – or so bosses at The Globe Theatre in London believe.
Luvvies were branded “barmy”, “woke” and “ridiculous” yesterday after adding trigger warnings about “upsetting” themes to performances of Romeo and Juliet.
Visitors to the playwright’s Elizabethan theatre, built in 1599, were given numbers for the Samaritans and for mental health charity Listening Place – as suicide, drug use and fake blood feature in the show.
On its website, the Globe warns: “If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this production… please find details below of organisations offering advice and support.”
Tory MP Pauline Latham, 73, said: “This is absolutely
Bard...Shakespeare ridiculous. How have we come to this after so many years of Shakespeare?” Actor Christopher Biggins, 72, called it a “joke”, adding: “What they are trying to do is insulting to the mentality of theatre-goers.”
But The Globe said: “[The] production does not shy away from how relevant this story is for our current societal struggles.
“As we’ve chosen to focus on mental health…we wanted to provide information to those who may need it.”