The West End transfer of a hit Broadway play about a feminist activist will ban audience members from using their mobile phones in a bid to protect actors during a nude scene.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning production Liberation, which is nominated for five Tony Awards, required theatre-goers in New York to lock away their phones in special pouches before entering the auditorium.
Now producers have revealed they intend to introduce the same policy when the show opens in London.
Producer Eva Price said it was the creative team’s intention to once again require audiences to seal their phones away for the duration of the performance.
The move was originally introduced to prevent actors being photographed or filmed during a nude scene, but producers say it also helped create a more immersive experience for audiences.
Under the system, theatre-goers place their phones inside magnetic pouches after scanning their tickets.
The devices remain locked away until the interval or the end of the performance.
Susannah Flood (C) takes part in the curtain call following the ‘Liberation’ Broadway Opening Night at James Earl Jones Theater on October 28, 2025 in New York City
Last month, actress Rosamund Pike publicly rebuked a theatregoer after spotting a mobile phone being used during a performance of Inter Alia at the Wyndham’s Theatre.
The actress and producer, who plays a Crown Court judge in Inter Alia at the Wyndham’s Theatre, returned to the stage after the curtain had fallen.
But instead of soaking in the applause, she hushed the audience and told the texter they had ‘broken the bond’ between cast and audience.
In footage captured by a theatregoer on Saturday, Ms Pike can be seen gesturing to a corner of the room.
She says: ‘Somebody was texting in this part – you know who you are. I’m not going to single you out but you know it upsets the performance.
‘Maybe it was very important. Maybe you’re a doctor and you’re saving someone’s life and I hope you are.
‘But we do see things – we do feel them and so when I feel that and see it it’s hard.’
She added: ‘I’m trying to tell you a story and I’m feeling you and I hope you’re feeling me too.’
Veteran actor Lesley Manville has also criticised audience members for filming performers during curtain calls, describing the practice as ‘insulting’.
However, some theatre insiders remain wary of introducing blanket phone bans, arguing that allowing audiences to film curtain calls can help generate publicity through social media.
Price acknowledged that phone use can be encouraged at some productions, pointing to the musical Titanique, where audiences are invited to record the encore.
She said the context of each production was different, with Liberation requiring stricter measures because of its content.
