Rosamund Pike did not leave it unsaid that a spectator used her phone during one of the most important scenes of her performance. The actress is a runner in London’s West End Inter Alia after his performance on Saturday returned to the stage. After the final bow, the audience at London’s Wyndham’s Theater expected moments to celebrate the success of the production, but Pike spoke instead about the importance of theater etiquette.
“I tell every theatergoer that we are trying to give you something very important. I am trying to tell a story, I feel you, and I hope you feel me too.”
The actress then pointed to a part of the auditorium. “Someone in this sector has written a message,” he said. “You know who you are, I won’t single you out.”
“Maybe he was very important, and maybe he’s a doctor saving someone’s life, and I hope he is. But we see and feel these movements. I feel like I have to hold our common space, so when I see and feel something like that, it makes it all difficult.”
The audience greeted the speech with applause. An audience member later stated that he originally thought Pike had returned to the stage for a special standing ovation, but it soon became clear that the actress was more interested in drawing attention to the relationship between the audience and the performers. According to the viewer, Pike looked genuinely disappointed and upset.
Pike, 47, is Inter Alia the main character, for his performance he won an Olivier Awards this year. At the center of the play is Judge Jessica Parks, who struggles to deal with the justice of cases related to sexual violence, while her own family is also shaken by serious allegations.
Pike is not the first to raise his voice against spectators who were merrily on the phone during the performance, a similar incident happened this spring, for example, when Cynthia Erivo interrupted a performance because she noticed that someone was recording the production. And earlier, Andrew Scott stopped the play at a performance of Hamlet when an audience member started writing emails on a laptop. Lesley Manville recently spoke about how viewers should not take videos or photos during the bow either. “Clap or don’t clap, but don’t shove their phones in our faces,” he said. “I find it offensive.”
