To film or not to film Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch has urged fans not to film his performance as Hamlet, describing it as “mortifying”.

The star, who is playing the lead in the fastest-selling play in British history, said there was “nothing less supportive or enjoyable” than being on stage and seeing a “big red light” from an audience member’s camera.

Cumberbatch made the plea to crowds gathered outside the Barbican after his Saturday performance, which was halted twice due to technical difficulties.

He complained that re-starting the play had been made harder by the “blindingly obvious” filming of “someone in the third row”.

Cumberbatch asked fans at the stage door to put technology to “good use” and spread his message through social media, warning that future offenders would be evicted from the show.

"Patience is a virtue" sounds like something Polonius would say but these photos were worth the wait! #HamletBarbican pic.twitter.com/4vurptP0WK

— Barbican Centre (@BarbicanCentre) August 7, 2015

He told the crowd: “What I really want to do is try and enlist you. I don’t really use social media, but I’d really appreciate it if you did tweet, blog, hashtag the shit out of this one for me.

“This isn’t me blaming you, this is just me asking you to just ripple it out there, in the brilliant, beautiful way that you do with your funny electronic things.”

Cumberbatch made his debut as Hamlet on Wednesday, receiving mixed reviews from critics. In the video, recorded by a fan, he said it had been “one hell of a week”.

The Daily Mail’s Jan Moir hailed Cumberbatch’s performance as “electrifying” and gave the production five stars. Kate Maltby in The Times was less impressed, labelling the production “Hamlet for kids raised on Moulin Rouge” and giving it two stars.