Andrew Scott says he paused Hamlet performance mid-show after spotting audience member on laptop

Actor Andrew Scott has revealed he paused during his performance of Hamlet's most famous monologue after seeing an audience member open up their laptop.

The Fleabag and Sherlock star spoke about the moment, which occurred when he starred in the titular role in 2017 at the Almeida Theatre, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

He revealed he "stopped for ages" during the character's "to be or not to be" speech.

"When I was playing Hamlet, a guy took out his laptop - not his phone, his laptop - while I was in the middle of 'to be or not to f***ing be,'" Scott said.

"I was pausing and (the crew) were like, 'get on with it,' and I was like, 'there's no way'.

"And he didn't realise. I stopped for ages."

Scott then explained that the theatregoer put the laptop away when spoken to by the woman next to him.

Disruption by audience members and others at West End theatres has varied over the years.

In October, five Just Stop Oil protestors were arrested after a performance of Les Miserables was halted when activists “invaded” the stage at the Sondheim Theatre.

During Do You Hear The People Sing?, they locked themselves onto it with flexible bicycle locks.

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