Rosamund Pike criticises audience member for texting during West End play

Actor tells theatregoers she hoped message was ‘very important’ after final bows of Inter Alia performance

Rosamund Pike has criticised an audience member for texting during the climax of her West End performance, saying she hoped the message was “very important”.

After a performance of Inter Alia on Saturday, Pike returned to the stage after the final bows. She told the audience at Wyndham’s theatre in London: “I just wanted to say for anyone going to the theatre, it’s a huge thing that we’re trying to give you. I am trying to tell you a story, and I’m feeling you, and I hope you’re feeling me too.”

“Somebody was texting in this part,” she said, gesturing towards a section of the audience. “You know who you are and I’m not going to single you out.

“Maybe it was very important, and maybe you’re a doctor, and you’re saving someone’s life, and I hope you are, but we do see these, we do feel them. I’ve got you, I feel like I’ve got to hold you all, so when I feel that and see it, it’s hard.”

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.

“She suggested that spotting someone texting in the climax of this devastatingly emotional play broke this bond,” they said, “She seemed genuinely upset.”

Pike joins a growing number of actors who have criticised audience etiquette 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. “Clap or don’t clap, but don’t just stick up your phone in our faces,” she said, “I find it insulting.”

In April, Cynthia Erivo interupted her performance of Dracula in the West End after spotting an audience member filming the show. During a performance of Hamlet in 2024, Andrew Scott halted the “to be or not to be” soliloquy when he saw an audience member had taken out a laptop to send emails.

Pike, 47, won an Olivier award in April for her role as Jessica Parks in Inter Alia.

The play follows Parks, a crown court judge dedicated to challenging the legal system’s approach to sexual violence, who is forced to contend with her own son being accused of rape.

Inter Alia was written by the Australian playwright Suzie Miller, who also wrote one-woman-play Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer.

Inter Alia premiered at the National Theatre in London last year, where it received four stars from the Guardian for Pike’s “physical, occasionally anarchic performance”. The actor has reprised the role for a limited run in the West End until 20 June.