**Updated Mar. 19, 2025** This seems to be a good time to open up this conversation again, as we are getting a larger than usual number of questions about THE PILLOWMAN. Some folks have “heard” it is “intense” and we’ve also had a few folks write in to ask about trigger warnings or age recommendations.

We’re hoping the direct questions coming to us through social media and our website are a result of a policy we adopted close to a decade ago:

Jobsite does not offer advisories about subject matter, as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have any questions about content, age-appropriateness or stage effects (such as strobe lights or theatrical fog) that might have a bearing on patron comfort, please contact us by email or phone at 813.476.7378.

We moved to this policy after watching some of our colleagues around the country, like Chicago’s Steppenwolf (ours is lifted from theirs, specifically), struggle with similar situations. How do we offer warnings while also respecting audience members who do not want a live experience spoiled? How do we navigate the subjective nature of personal taste or what someone deems appropriate or not for themselves, their guests, or their children? How can we account for every possible trigger without offending folks for missing theirs on occasion? It seems no one nationally really agrees on what to do or what should be done here, but we are always open to conversation.

Over the years we’ve lost out opportunities to bring high school groups in to certain shows (like A Clockwork Orange) we assumed to be too mature but later got complaints from teachers about missed opportunities for a book they were reading in class. On the other side, we’ve also had classes show up after reading a book or play (like Fahrenheit 451) and have adults get angry with us about content on stage that was in the book they read. We’ve also had experiences where a class has read an edited or abridged version of a book or play that was made “safer” without our knowledge of that while we presented the text as-is, and assuming we were all on the same page.

We’ve also plainly set disclaimers on shows such as “contains adult language and humor, recommended for mature audiences only” only to get nasty-grams from folks saying it should have been recommended for immature audiences only, or that they walked in knowing it would be “adult but not that adult.” Or, in the case of THE PILLOWMAN, “I heard it was disturbing but I didn’t expect it to be that disturbing.” We’ve also recommended shows for mature audiences only to have parents after the fact lament the content would have been completely appropriate for their teen who not only missed out on an experience but had the parents upset that they unnecessarily paid for childcare for the night.

We’ve simply had patrons offended by pre-show music before a play even starts or because two girls shared a relatively chaste kiss on stage in a play about murders they didn’t seem to object to. If I’ve learned one thing about audiences in producing for 26 years is that if an adult is asking about content for their child, they really just want to know about “sexual” content (even as that definition changes by person) — they almost never seem to care about language or violence.

I truly respect that there are folks who deal with trauma and the impact that has on the shows they choose to see. That’s very, very real. There is also recent research out there that “trigger warnings” possibly exacerbate, not diminish, real trauma. I’m not exactly qualified to take a side there.

I am reluctant to frame any experience in such a way as to make it appear universal or to otherwise possibly ruin things for others — we then start entering the realm of making a self-fulfilling prophecy. We’ve had too many incidents over the years where the disclaimer in some way backfired. In fact, we get folks who write in mad about spoilers through the way a disclaimer is usually written (the warning is giving something away, which, I can see). We almost can’t win here. I hope that’s clear, and understood as why we have the policy we do.

To paraphrase Taylor Mac’s (author of HIR) stance: we work in catharsis, something is supposed to happen to you in that room. Maybe it’s just laughing until your sides hurt. Maybe it’s a revelation. Maybe it’s shock. Or outrage.

So where did we land? At caveat emptor. We do our best to offer a thorough plot synopsis as well as background information on every show’s web page. With THE PILLOWMAN, we use words like savage, interrogation, we note that a woman is brought in because the content of her short stories is linked to a string of child murders, it’s in a totalitarian state, etc. It’s our hope that folks who know that kind of show is not for them simply let it pass, and anyone with concerns will write in to ask for more information.

We welcome questions. We’d rather have a one on one conversation to address someone’s specific concerns.  We are happy to provide specific answers to specific questions, like if a show has coarse language, nudity, substance abuse, or death in it. We’re also usually happy to even help audiences borrow a copy of the script so that they can sort out first hand what is right for them, or their companions. We care, and believe we can better serve everyone by not trying trying to speak for everyone at once. Folks can also look up a play by title and playwright, then jump to the news tab of your search engine to read reviews of the play in other cities to help perhaps create a fuller picture in addition to the conversation with us.

I’m aware these are several separate issues: age appropriateness, regular content warnings (think of the letters that pop up in front of your favorite TV shows), and trigger warnings. In terms of age policies, those are perhaps the hardest to make everyone happy with. I remember watching R-rated movies as a kid with my parents to little fanfare. I have friends now who have not shown their children films we both saw when we were far younger than they are. Everyone is different.

Do you have thoughts? Let us know. Keeping this line of communication open between both sides is important for all of us! I am thankful to have this opportunity to help connect artists and audiences

-dj