Benedict Cumberbatch may play a tech-savvy version of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series, but the actor would have none of those electronic devices when he is playing Hamlet!
The 'Sherlock' actor is currently part of a production of 'Hamlet' at London's Barbican Theatre, where he is playing the troubled prince. According to BuzzFeed, the production experienced technical difficulties during Saturday night's performance and the play had to be stopped at least twice.
To make matters worse, Benedict Cumberbatch noticed that some of the audience members were filming during the play.
As soon as the play was wrapped, the actor stepped out the stage door to deliver a lengthy speech about theater etiquettes. He started by thanking the audience then told them the real reason why he decided to speak to them.
"I can see red lights in the auditorium," Cumberbatch said to the crowd. "It may not be any of you here that did that, but it's blindingly obvious. 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. It's very, very obvious. It's mortifying, and there's nothing less enjoyable as an actor on stage, experiencing that."
Benedict Cumberbatch also told the audience that the theater will be taking extra measures to ensure the disaster will not happen again. "It's going to get more strict," Cumberbatch continued. "They've got devices that are coming in on Monday that will detect and have people evicted. I don't want that to happen. That's a horrible way to police what's a wonderful thing."
Benedict Cumberbatch ended by telling his audience that he only wants to make sure they leave with a memorable experience.
"I can't give you what I want to give you, which is a live performance that you'll remember, hopefully in your minds and brains whether it's good, bad or indifferent, rather than on your phones," he told the crowd. "So it's not me blaming you, this is me asking you to ripple it out there, in the beautiful way that you do with your funny electronic things."
Benedict Cumberbatch will return as Sherlock Holmes in the 'Sherlock' Special titled 'Masterpiece.'