Are you kidding me?

My trip to London has come and gone...great memories!

I would love to give you a great scene by scene review of Hamlet, however, something else needs to be addressed.

Rules are put in place for a reason. It's not just for our safety, but for everyone else's enjoyment as well...especially in theatres and auditoriums.

I know, with the latest phone technology, taking selfies and pictures is an irresistible compulsion. I have been guilty of snapping them at concerts. But, it's images of me with my fellow concertgoer at Rexall Place, not an unauthorized record of the performance.

When Benedict Cumberbatch's performance run as Hamlet first started, he pleaded with fans to not use their phones while he was on stage. He mentioned how seeing the red recording lights was distracting and vexing.

At the Barbican Center, there is a plethora of signs telling us not to take photos and recordings of the performance. Ignorance cannot be used as an excuse to not following this rule.

My friend and I paid good money for our second row, center stage seats. I stayed up until six in the morning to obtain these hard to get tickets. While I am a fan of Mr. Cumberbatch, I am a bigger fan of Shakespeare.

So you can imagine my anger and annoyance when I caught the two ladies in the first row setting their iPhones to record the audio of the performance. There are ushers everywhere, telling everyone to switch off their phones, so what gives these two idiots the right to break the rules?

My friend and I immediately summoned security and they took action and warned the ladies.

As soon as they saw security focusing on other patrons, they dug into their purses and set their phones to record again.

Security was summoned again, and a manager came down to take the phones away. They tried to say that they didn't understand English but they did.

The performance started and I enjoyed every scene until intermission came along. The manager returned the phones to the ladies and warned them about recording the performance.

You would think by now that they learned their lesson.

NOPE!

As soon as the manager was out of sight, they immediately set their phones to record. Thinking nobody would notice, they hid them in their purses and tried to act natural. Little did they know that I saw everything.

I went through the whole rigamorale with security and management was called again...I hate being a shit disturber, but these ladies were making a mockery of Shakespeare and I was having none of it. It's one thing to go see the play, but to fangirl and try to record the performance, it is a slap to the face for other people who are there to enjoy Shakespeare.

What happened next really upset me. Instead of making the ladies leave for their blatant disrespect of the rules, Barbican management did nothing. I was flabbergasted. People have been kicked out of Rexall Place for much smaller infractions.

It's plain and simple...if you break the rules, there are consequences.

This rule basically went unenforced and those ladies got away with it. Total bullshit.

If they had that no recording rule in place, they should have enforced it better. Security did everything they could. Management dropped the ball.

I have no idea if Benedict and the cast were informed of the mismanagement of the recording, and I doubt they ever will. All I can say is that I am extremely disappointed in the manager who did nothing.

And to those ladies who recorded the second half, I hope you can live with hurting the man you came to see. Piracy affects everyone!