Benedict Cumberbatch pleads with fans to stop filming him on stage

I can see red lights in the auditorium, and it may not be any of you here that did that but it’s blindingly obvious like that one there, that little red light, it’s very very obvious.

The actor is now starring in a twelve-week run of the play at the Barbican Theatre in London but was forced to scold members of the audience after he noticed distracting “cameras” and “red lights” during his performance. “We had to restart again tonight at ‘To be or not to be, ‘ which is not the easiest place to pick up a play full stop, but this made it harder”.

Cumberbatch, 39, described the experience as “mortifying”. When a phone goes off or when a LED screen can be seen in the dark it ruins the experience for everyone else – the majority of the audience at that performance and the actors on stage. “That’s a terrible way to police what’s a wonderful thing”. I’d really appreciate it if you could tweet, blog, hashtag the s– out of this one for me.

Instead of being evicted from the show, he ended his plea in the most Cumberbatch way possible, by saying, “This is me asking you to ripple it out there in the brilliant handsome way that you do with your amusing electronic things”.

Since it was uploaded on Friday night, the video of Cumberbatch’s speech has been viewed over 700,000 times on YouTube. Without the kind of classic, cellphone-shaming videos movie theaters employ prior to showing a film, Cumberbatch relied on his charms to convince theatergoers the time to snap pics is after the curtain closes.

Cumberbatch’s portrayal of the Danish Prince has been hailed by fans on social media as “sublime, SUPREME” and “electrifying”.

Producers Sonia Friedman Productions said no opponents were really permitted the ability to access the first viewing of Hamlet.