Plays should given film-style certificates, says West End magazine

Plays should be classified in the same way as films, West End magazine Theatregoer claims.

The publication says the stage needs a certification system to warn audiences about productions featuring nudity, simulated sex, violence and drug use.

The proposal has been dismissed by former Channel 4 boss Michael Grade, who described it as "classic English nannying gone absolutely barking mad."

Mark Ravenhill, writer of Shopping And F*****g and Mother Clapp's Molly House, is also against the move.

Theatregoer editorial director Paul Keers told the London Evening Standard: "It is a question of providing the same kind of guidance that you get on videos."