Award-winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch has appeared several times in front of the camera. This time however, he has begged his theatre fans to put down their cameras and phones because he finds it "mortifying" to be seeing flashes while on stage. Cumberbatch is currently doing "Hamlet".

Benedict Cumberbatch admits he felt distracted by flashes of cameras while doing "Hamlet" at the Barbican Theater in London, reports Variety. Seeing a little red light made him lose his character that he had to start the famous line which begins with "To be or not to be".

Last Saturday, the movie and theater actor came to the stage door and asked his fans to put their phones and cameras to good use. He said he did not have any social media account and would appreciate if the audience "tweet, blog, hashtag the sh_t" out of him. He added that as an actor, he does not feel enjoyment or support seeing all those recording and shots being taken in the middle of a performance.

Uproxx adds that Cumberbatch told the audience that he wanted his live performance to be remembered not through their phones and cameras but through their minds. Cumberbatch said that by Monday, devices that can detect audience who have cellphones shall be available. Whoever is caught will be taken out of the theatre. The actor however do not want it to happen especially in the middle of everyone watching a nice play.

"Hamlet" is on a ten-week run at the said theatre which debuted on Wednesday and has received mixed reviews. According to Gulf News, tickets for the long-running play have been sold out instantly after they were released last year.

This is not the first time that an incident on the use of electronic device inside theatres took place. Last July, a drunk 19 year old plugged his phone into a fake outlet that was part of the set.

Cumberbatch urged fans to spread his message on social media to avoid the same incident in future Hamlet shows.