Benedict Cumberbatch shocked theatregoers by launching an impassioned – and foul-mouthed – attack at politicians’ response to the refugee crisis.
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During the discourses the “The Imitation Game” actor has been reciting a poem by Somali writer Warsan Shire called “Home” that includes the line: “No one puts children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land”. During his nightly plight after the Hamlet curtain call, Benedict Cumberbatch has told those listening of a friend’s experience of volunteering in Lesbos, Greece.
Donations from the Hamlet audience have so far raised more than $230,000 for Save the Children.
Cumberbatch, who said to his audience, “Fuck the politicians”, has made a habit of speaking to theater attendees about the issue after every show since September, as part of an effort to raise funds for Save the Children’s Syrian refugee efforts.
The Sherlock actor took his final bow in the William Shakespeare play on Tuesday (27Oct15) and launched into a speech before he left the stage at London’s Barbican theatre venue to encourage the audience to drop money in buckets for charities helping refugees. Yes, we need long-term solutions; yes, we need to get people out of the camps so they don’t make a perilous journey; yes, it’s a good idea to actually have a specific solution, I suppose, once they arrive here.
“Everywhere on the horizon there was nothing but boats and on the shoreline nothing but lifejackets”, he said.
According to the Daily Mail, he blasted the “utter disgrace of the British government” for not doing more to help.
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‘Then, out of nowhere came this “F*** the politicians” comment.’It’s not quite what you’d anticipate if you go for a night with the Bard, nevertheless it got a number of cheers.’The Barbican is run by Sir Nicholas Kenyon, who would by no means have permitted such language in his days as controller of Radio three.
