Trigger warning over cooked eggs on stage as theatres scramble for political correctness

CONTENT warnings are often given over fears audiences might be upset by violence or coarse language on stage, but a cookery scene in a play has producers walking on eggshells.

The Young Vic has warned that a new production “involves the handling of cooked egg”.

The theatre is staging a revival of the 2000 play Further than the Furthest Thing, about the inhabitants of a remote island, and the tragic consequence of their displacement.

Amid warnings about strong language and depictions of mental illness in the show, a content warning states that actors will be handling “cooked egg”, amid concerns about allergies.

The online warning states: “This show contains strong language, themes of climate displacement and xenophobia, and depictions of pregnancy and infant homicide.

“The show contains references to sexual violence, mental illness, death and implied suicide, and has moments of loud music. This show involves the handling of cooked egg.”

A spokesman for the Young Vic explained: “The warning is there for anyone with an egg allergy as cooked eggs are handled during the show.”

The Young Vic has not confirmed at what stage in the play the egg is cooked, and by what method, but the script begins with a scene in which islanders on the remote South Atlantic outpost of Tristan da Cunha gather penguin eggs to eat as a treat.

‘References to sexual violence, mental illness, death, suicide and the handling of cooked egg’

Trigger warnings have become more commonplace both in academia and in the West End, where the Donmar Warehouse alerted theatregoers to the fact that the musical “contains strong language and references to suicide”.

The Globe issued material online about their 2022 production of Romeo and Juliet, explaining that the production contained “depictions of suicide, moments of violence and references to drug use”.

The same theatre recently warned that A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains “misogyny and racism”.

The upcoming play at the Young Vic , which opens on March 9, concerns the forced relocation of islanders who have “lived undisturbed for centuries, defying the swirling currents of modernity and capitalism”.

A description of Zinnie Harris’s play given by the Young Vic, adds: “Cut off and exposed to the elements, their survival has created a complex bind with their land.

“But when one of the inhabitants brings an outsider to the island, their way of life is changed forever.”