Cynthia Erivo, the star of the West End production of Dracula, interrupted a performance on Monday night after noticing an audience member appeared to be filming the show. The incident, which occurred at the Noël Coward theatre, caused a brief halt in the one-woman show where Erivo portrays all 23 characters.
A representative for the production confirmed the stoppage. According to a commenter on the Theatreboard forum who claimed to have been present, Erivo, roughly an hour into the performance, looked into the audience and asked, "Are you filming? Is someone filming?" before stopping the show. Another attendee reported that the following night's performance included extra reminders about the prohibition of photography and filming.
Illicit recordings have become an increasing concern for theatres. Some venues now issue audience members with stickers to cover their phone cameras upon entry, a practice currently in place at productions such as Romeo and Juliet starring Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe at the Harold Pinter theatre, and previously used for Good starring David Tennant. In 2023, photos from a nude scene featuring James Norton in A Little Life were published online.
Filming productions is generally forbidden by theatres, with rare exceptions such as closing medleys in musicals. However, it has become common for audience members to take photos and videos during curtain calls. Actress Lesley Manville recently criticised this behaviour on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, saying, "Clap or don't clap, but don't just stick up your phone in our faces. I find it insulting." Manville, currently starring in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre, noted that signs inside and outside the auditorium warn against phone use, including during the curtain call. She recalled giving a stern look to an audience member who took out their phone during previews, adding that "it never used to happen." In New York, where she recently performed in Oedipus, she said "virtually the whole audience" would use their phones during the curtain call.
The Noël Coward theatre is owned by Cameron Mackintosh's Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, whose terms and conditions prohibit the use of recording equipment and require mobile phones and other electronic devices to be disabled at all times. Some of its venues allow the use of GalaPro, an app for closed captioning and audio description on mobile devices.
Dracula, directed by Kip Williams, runs until 30 May. Like Williams' 2024 hit The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which Sarah Snook played 26 characters, the production relies on sophisticated onstage camerawork.
