Where do Trigger Warnings Belong in Storytelling?

How should we deal with trigger warnings when it comes to people sharing personal stories in a public space? If I invited you to a show saying: 

“There will be four stories, two of which are about people dealing with cancer and one of which is about someone’s Dad dying.”

You might be forgiven for thinking “Thanks, Ad. That sounds super depressing so I’ll pass…”

Yet the show Kristian Brodie and I put on last Thursday, packed to the rafters, was filled with hundreds more laughs than tears.

Not to press the point but the tears were, by accounts of anyone that came up to us afterwards, the kind of empathy-inducing, cathartic type that make you want to call the people in your life and tell them you love them. 

However. Don’t we have a duty of care to the audience traveling to the theatre to make sure that they have some notice about the type of content they’ll be seeing? Especially when it comes to something like cancer where so many people may be presently affected directly or via a loved one? How do we balance that with making sure that we don’t:

Misrepresent the tone and content of the stories and put people off from an enriching experience?

• Give away information about stories in a show where part of the joy of the evening is discovery?

I’m afraid at this point I genuinely don’t know the answer. Do we stay super specific and bite the bullet? Or give a broader notice ‘adult content and difficult themes may feature on the show’? I am here to be illuminated. Have at it.

#Authenticity means finding the most inclusive way of sharing #stories.

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