Post-Hamlet anti-government speech
Cumberbatch tells a London Hamlet audience to ‘f-ck the politicians’ amid criticism of ministers over their handling of the migration crisis in Europe. He has been giving nightly speeches after his curtain call, reading a poem called Home by Somali poet Warsan Shire, which includes the line:
No one puts children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land
He urges theatregoers to donate money to Save the Children which helps Syrian refugees, raising more than £150,000. Cumberbatch tells theatregoers of a friend’s experience volunteering on the Greek island of Lesbos, where 5,000 people had been arriving every day.
Everywhere on the horizon there was nothing but boats and on the shoreline nothing but lifejackets. We are saying, as citizens of the world, we see you … and at least some help is coming.
Urges fans not to record Hamlet
Cumberbatch asks fans not to video his performance in Hamlet.
I can see cameras, I can see red lights in the auditorium, and it may not be any of you here that did that, but it’s blindingly obvious. It’s mortifying, and there’s nothing less supportive or enjoyable as an actor being on stage experiencing that. And I can’t give you what I want to give you, which is a live performance that you’ll remember, hopefully in your minds and brains —whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent — rather than on your phones. 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.
