This is the moment Rosamund Pike berated an audience member for texting during the finale of her ‘devastatingly emotional’ West End play.
The actress and producer, who plays a Crown Court judge in Inter Alia at the Wyndham’s Theatre, returned to the stage after the curtain had fallen.
But instead of soaking in the applause, she hushed the audience and told the texter they had ‘broken the bond’ between cast and audience.
In footage captured by a theatregoer on Saturday, Ms Pike can be seen gesturing to a corner of the room.
She says: ‘Somebody was texting in this part – you know who you are. I’m not going to single you out but you know it upsets the performance.
‘Maybe it was very important. Maybe you’re a doctor and you’re saving someone’s life and I hope you are.
‘But we do see things – we do feel them and so when I feel that and see it it’s hard.’
She added: ‘I’m trying to tell you a story and I’m feeling you and I hope you’re feeling me too.’
The moment Rosamund Pike publicly shamed an audience member for texting during her West End play
Ms Pike told the audience: ‘Somebody was texting in this part – you know who you are’
One audience member later took to social media in support of Ms Pike’s comments.
He said on X: ‘It was an amazing show, but huge props to Rosamund Pike for calling out someone for texting.
‘She took time during the curtain call to point out how unacceptable it is, especially during a pivotal scene. The actors are giving a live performance right in front of you. Put your phone away for a couple of hours.’
Another person said: ‘Rosamund Pike calling out an audience member in the stalls section who texted during a very important/ intense moment during curtain call was quit cool.’
The 47-year-old actress was given a round of applause after her speech and for her performance in the production, which runs for 100 minutes without interval.
In Inter Alia, Ms Pike plays the character Jessica, a senior judge who advocates for better treatment of female sexual assault victims – but is then forced to come to terms with her 18-year-old son being accused of rape.
The play is shown at Wyndham’s Theatre – where filming is strictly prohibited during performances – and is a follow-up to Suzie Miller’s 2022 legal drama Prima Facie.
In April, Ms Pike was brought to tears during the curtain call of the Inter Alia press night.
Rosamund Pike is seen in her role as Crown Court judge Jessica in Inter Alia at the National Theatre
The Gone Girl star was seen with her head in her hands as she was given thunderous applause for her performance.
The West End show has received glowing reviews from critics with the Daily Mail’s Patrick Marmion awarding it four stars.
Other British stars to have called out theatregoers in recent years include Dame Imelda Staunton – who brought in a ban on eating after she complained about noisy crunching during a performance of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
Similarly, Sherlock actor Andrew Scott stopped mid-performance while playing Hamlet because an audience member was on his laptop during his rendition of the iconic ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy.
Daniel Craig and Patti LuPone have called out the etiquette of theatregoers, while Benedict Cumberbatch – who also played Hamlet – pleaded with people not to film him on stage, as he found the constant lights to be ‘mortifying’.
Ms Pike’s warning to theatregoers follows Heathers: The Musical star Kate Rockwell’s frustrated tirade at drunken audience members and rowdy superfans in March – adding to fears that West End etiquette is on the decline.
The intervention sparked a large debate online as fans threatened to boycott the West End if preventions weren’t put in place to stop disruption ruining shows.
A Reddit user who claimed to be an experienced actor in the UK weighed in on the debate online and insisted we are now in an ‘epidemic of rudeness’, adding ‘social etiquette is out of the window’.
They wrote: ‘Professional and amateur theatre actor here with 20+ years experience in stages across the UK.
‘Within the past few years audiences have become shockingly rude and treating the theatre space as if it were the cinema; talking loudly, on phones constantly, not engaging with the performance, smuggling in inappropriate food and heckling MY GOD the heckling.’
They concluded: ‘It’s an epidemic of rudeness that’s only going to get a hell of a lot worse because social etiquette is out of the window.’
Other disturbances in recent years include audience members being thrown out of West End’s Grease The Musical by eight police officers back in 2023 for ‘for being loud and abusive’.
Months prior at Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical in London, a foul-mouthed audience member brought the performance to a halt midway through.
He was heard to shout ‘f***ing c***s’ at the assembly before he was shown the door by security.
And a performance of The Bodyguard was brought to an abrupt halt after a ‘mini riot’ broke out when theatregoers started singing over the lead during the final number in 2023.
Actress Debbie Arnold waded in and claimed rowdy theatregoers should be banned for life, while comedian Mike McClean thought such punishment would be excessive.
The former EastEnders actress said there is a ‘theatre etiquette’ that people have forgot about.
She said: ‘There’s a theatre etiquette which is no longer there really anymore because people would never have done that even ten years ago.
‘Thinks like Mama Mia and shows like that, they have an ending that you can get up and sing and dance and I think that’s fantastic. But during the show you have to sit and watch.
‘People have trained for years, musical artists are the best in the world, they are like Olympic athletes.
‘People think they are home watching TV. I don’t think they realise that you on stage can see them and hear them. I think a lifetime ban, unless they apologise.’
