Rosamund Pike has criticised an audience member for texting during the climax of her West End performance, saying she hoped the message was \u201cvery important\u201d.<\/p>\n
After a performance of Inter Alia on Saturday, Pike returned to the stage after the final bows. She told the audience at Wyndham\u2019s theatre in London: \u201cI just wanted to say for anyone going to the theatre, it\u2019s a huge thing that we\u2019re trying to give you. I am trying to tell you a story, and I\u2019m feeling you, and I hope you\u2019re feeling me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody was texting in this part,\u201d she said, gesturing towards a section of the audience. \u201cYou know who you are and I\u2019m not going to single you out.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it was very important, and maybe you\u2019re a doctor, and you\u2019re saving someone\u2019s life, and I hope you are, but we do see these, we do feel them. I\u2019ve got you, I feel like I\u2019ve got to hold you all, so when I feel that and see it, it\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Times reported that Pike received a round of applause for her speech. One audience member assumed the actor was returning to the stage for a solo ovation, only to watch her gesture for people to sit down and listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe suggested that spotting someone texting in the climax of this devastatingly emotional play broke this bond,\u201d they said, \u201cShe seemed genuinely upset.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike joins a growing number of actors who have criticised audience etiquette<\/a> and phone usage during theatre performances. Last month, Lesley Manville told BBC Radio 4 that audiences should not take photos and videos during curtain calls. \u201cClap or don\u2019t clap, but don\u2019t just stick up your phone in our faces,\u201d she said, \u201cI find it insulting.\u201d<\/p>\n In April, Cynthia Erivo interupted her performance<\/a> of Dracula in the West End after spotting an audience member filming the show. During a performance of Hamlet in 2024, Andrew Scott halted<\/a> the \u201cto be or not to be\u201d soliloquy when he saw an audience member had taken out a laptop to send emails.<\/p>\n Pike, 47, won an Olivier award in April for her role as Jessica Parks in Inter Alia.<\/p>\n The play follows Parks, a crown court judge dedicated to challenging the legal system\u2019s approach to sexual violence, who is forced to contend with her own son being accused of rape.<\/p>\n Inter Alia was written by the Australian playwright Suzie Miller, who also wrote one-woman-play Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer.<\/p>\n