London's Bush Theatre issues 12-page trigger warning 'self-care guide' - that includes advice on breathing and 'grounding exercises' - for distressed audience members

Theatre-goers are now well used to trigger warnings being slapped on performances.

But one venue has now taken this to the extreme by creating 12-page 'self-care guides' for its plays.

The move by London's prestigious Bush Theatre, where actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge launched her career, publishes the comprehensive content guidance on its website.

Its self-care advice includes suggestions on how to preserve your mental health, such as watching with someone and 'finding some nature'.

The Arts Council-funded venue also includes a step-by-step guide for 'grounding exercises' to 'bring yourself into contact with the present moment', should you be triggered by a production.

It advises audience members to 'notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste'.

It then goes on to tell them to 'sit with your feet on the floor and back against your chair and either gently tap each leg or cross your arms and tap your shoulders,' after which they should 'wash your hands or drink some water'.

Its latest play Lady Dealer, about a female drug kingpin forced to confront her own mental health, warns of themes of drugs and sexual content, as well as 'references to body hatred and fatphobia' and 'references to blood'.

According to the guide, self-care is a 'choice to listen to our needs and look after ourselves, so we are able to keep going and live our best lives'.

The west London theatre is one of the foremost venues for establishing rising talent.

Its two performance spaces, including a 144-seater main house, played host to an unknown Ms Waller-Bridge, 38, in Like A Fishbone in 2010.

Actors including Dame Judi Dench, 89, have been critical of the increasingly 'woke' trigger warnings put out ahead of UK productions.

She recently said that if 'you're that sensitive, you shouldn't go to the theatre'.