Please stop filming me in Hamlet – it’s mortifying, Cumberbatch tells audience
BENEDICT Cumberbatch has begged his fans to end the ‘mortifying’ practice of using mobile phones to film him on stage in Hamlet.
The actor told a crowd outside the theatre doors that there was ‘nothing less supportive or enjoyable’ about theatre-goers taking sneaky footage.
The 39-year-old was speaking after a performance on Saturday which had been halted twice by technical problems.
Addressing fans in a speech – which was filmed and posted on YouTube – he said restarting the play was made even harder because he could spot the ‘red lights’ of filming gadgets and urged fans to spread the message on social media.
The Sherlock star also warned that from today fans caught filming his performances at London’s Barbican would be thrown out.
Theatre rules insist that mobile phones are switched off before entering the auditorium but it would appear many audience members are ignoring the guidelines.
Cumberbatch asked if he could ‘enlist’ fans to help him, adding: ‘I don’t use social media but I would really appreciate it if you did tweet, blog, hashtag the s*** out of this one for me … I can see cameras, I can see red lights in the auditorium … it’s blindingly obvious.
He said after the second stoppage he spotted a ‘red light on about the third row on the right and it’s mortifying’.
‘There is nothing less supportive or enjoyable as an actor being on stage experiencing that,’ he added. ‘I can’t give you what I want to give you, which is a live performance that you will remember hopefully in your minds and brains, whether it is good, bad or indifferent rather than on your phones, so please don’t.’
He warned of ‘strict’ enforcement to come, but admitted it was a ‘horrible way to police what is a wonderful thing’.
He concluded: ‘So listen, this isn’t me blaming you, this is me asking you for you to just ripple it out there in the brilliant, beautiful way that you do with your funny electronic things as I sit there with my pipe and book.’
It is not the first time actors have lashed out at fans filming on mobile phones. In 2013, James McAvoy scolded an audience member he caught filming his performance of Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios.
And last year, Kevin Spacey was distracted by a ringing phone at the Old Vic theatre. ‘If you don’t answer that, I will,’ he snapped.
Cumberbatch made his debut in the Shakespeare play at a preview on Wednesday, receiving mixed reviews from critics. Saturday’s show was stopped twice by tech- nical issues. One fan said a curtain began to come down as Cumberbatch started his opening lines, and he was reportedly heard venting his frustration off-stage.
Oliver Soden, a music researcher for the BBC, wrote on Twitter: ‘Wonder if only from my side seat could you see/hear him yelling in wings.’
On Saturday, Cumberbatch admitted it had been a ‘hell of a week’. ‘It’s been one damn thing after another,’ he said.
A spokesman for the show’s production company said it had ‘nothing to add’.
Despite the setbacks, the show has proved a big hit with theatre fans.
Tickets sold out hours after going on sale a year ago and some are now changing hands on eBay for up to £1,500.
‘Blindingly obvious’