Here at No Proscenium our goal is to connect audiences with creators whose work they will appreciate to the fullest.

We’re proud of the fact that immersive work — both physical and digital — covers so many genres and styles. Truly there is no journey that is off-limits to exploration in the immersive form.

Yet this is always predicated on the idea that audience members (participants, players, specactors, etc.) have consented to the range of experiences that the creator intends to make available to them. To do so they must have the option of making an informed choice.

While we fully appreciate the desire for surprise to remain a significant tool on the artistic palate, we also hope that creators appreciate that certain themes and scenarios may cause unintended reactions amongst their patrons. After all, what is extreme to one person may be completely tame to another. More worrisome is the reverse.

To this end we are adopting the following policy around content advisories (aka “trigger warnings”).

All submissions for inclusion in our newswire via NoPro’s submission form are required to report whether or not sexual violence is incorporated in the work in any way.

They are also required to register the levels of physical contact which a participant might expect in the production:

  • None
  • Light (Business/Acquaintance)
  • Moderate (Familial)
  • Aggressive (Pushing/Grabbing)
  • Extreme (Stress Positions, non-sexual BDSM )
  • Simulated Romantic (Intimate non-sexual touch, kissing)
  • Simulated Sexual
  • Extreme Sexual (intense BDSM)
  • Simulated Sexual Violence

These are presented in a “multiple choice” format, so more than one option may apply. The options are based on what our team and other associates have encountered in the past, and is always subject to refinement.

In addition each entry is asked to disclose other Content Advisories, and whether advisories are listed at the event’s web/ticketing site. While this step is optional, we recommend doing so.

Submissions that are received via email will be queried on these matters by that channel, and productions that we uncover through our other means will also be asked to disclose such information.

We respect the right of productions to withhold specific details of their event, but if they contain elements that may cause adverse reactions we encourage them to disclose that such elements may be present somewhere on their web or ticket site at the least, and make it very clear how to discover that information.

We reserve the right to refuse coverage to productions that do not honor these requests.

All too often we’ve seen productions lean too heavily on the veil of mystery, only to have that come crashing down on producers when an unprepared, uninformed audience member encounters something they had no desire to. (Meanwhile there are other potential participants who would happily jump into the deep end of the most macabre imaginations. To each their own: but seriously to each their own.)

We know that the full range of circumstances that may cause exceptional emotional and even physical discomfort — to the point of disassociating with the material on the part of the audience — is impossible to predict. However we expect that producers will exercise professional sensibilities and make good faith efforts to inform audiences of material that might reasonably induce such states.

We also know that many audiences members gloss over advisories, warnings, instructions, and the content of waivers. We encourage producers to do what they can to make such tools as clear and concise as possible, and remind patrons that it is in their best interest to pay attention to the information disclosed by such means.

(If you’re wondering how this looks in practice on the user end of things: here’s the new show page/newswire format.)

Press releases and other listing requests may be submitted via this form. Send all other inquiries to noah@noproscenium.com.

For more on our policies see: “How To Get Your Work Featured On NoPro” and “Audience Safety & Our Editorial Policy.”

In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in our online community Everything Immersive, and in our Slack forum.