Carrie Hope Fletcher Blasts LES MIS Bootleggers!

The latest theatre star to speak up about illegal, illicit filming during shows is Les Miserables' Carrie Hope Fletcher.

She posted on Twitter today a complaint about people filming her performance, causing a distraction to her as well as the rest of the audience.

The tweet was shared by hundreds - and liked by hundreds more.

However, Fletcher also had to respond to people claiming that bootleg recordings were the only way that fans around the world had heard of her, replying: "We'd rather people in other countries didn't know who we were if it means our performances are undistracted!"

Her tweet was shared by other West End performers, including John Owen Jones and Rebecca Lock.

Fletcher mentioned how distracting the amateur videographers are for performers and their close neighbours in the seats - but others have pointed out that the light from phones or tablets, even subtly used in the stalls, is clearly visible from the circle and above, ruining performances for scores of people around the theatre.

The issue of video and phone use in theatres is constantly under discussion, with audiences reminded not to take photos or record performances before every show. However, this is ignored by an active minority - demonstrated by the circulation of bootleg recordings on YouTube and other social media.

Benedict Cumberbatch famously asked fans to stop recording his performance as Hamlet last year - but so far West End musicals have so far done little to crack down.

Ringing mobile phones have triggered angry reactions from actors on both sides of the pond - but it remains only Patti LuPone who has really taken the musical theatre bootleggers to task, stopping a performance of Gypsy to tell an audience member to stop taking photos of her.

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