As is the way with Theatreland these days, the Royal Opera House’s forthcoming production of Puccini’s Tosca carries eight trigger warnings relating to murder, sexual assault and torture.
So far, so woke. But now comes a trigger warning with a difference: for the venue is now alerting its audiences to – horror of horrors – the curtain-up bell.
It is ‘loud and startling’ apparently, which, you might think, is the point. Its purpose, after all, is to make sure patrons know there are ten minutes before the curtain goes up and to finish off those drinks at the bar.
About the only person in the UK this might come as a shock to was Del Boy in an Only Fools And Horses Christmas special in 1986, when he finds himself at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane to see Carmen.
When the curtain-up bell sounds, Del, played by David Jason, mistakes it for last orders, exclaiming: ‘Cor blimey! He’s rung that one early, ain’t he!’.
