ONE of Britain's most distinguished actors, Timothy West, was interrupted in full flow at Malvern Theatres by an irritable member of the audience asking him to speak up.

It was a moment in the opening night of Alan Bennett's play The Old Country that Malvern theatregoers will not easily forget.

There were rumblings of disapproval and embarrassment as West looked questioningly towards the owner of the voice, who repeated his request for the actor to speak up, adding: "We can't hear you at the back."

After a moment's hesitation, the actor picked up his speech where he had left off, aided by a helpful prompt from fellow actor Simon Williams.

Theatregoer Tricia St Clair, of Woodstock Road, St John's, Worcester, said: "It was a shocking moment. I can't believe it happened to someone like Timothy West. I have never heard anything like it in years of going to the theatre, but in a way it added to the discordant nature of the play."

Much admired by theatregoers, the acclaimed actor has a powerful stage presence and a voice to match.

He has appeared many times in Malvern and Worcester, taking leading roles in plays such as Death of a Salesman, King Lear and, most recently, National Hero.

He is well known to television viewers for his appearances in productions as diverse as Bleak House, Colditz, the Alan Clark Diaries, Waking The Dead and three series of the comedy, Bedtime.

As he left the theatre after the interrupted performance, looking cheerful and unruffled Mr West brushed off the incident.

A spokesman for the production company, English Touring Theatre, said: "It is the nature of live theatre that people get involved.

"There are lots of cases of mobile phones going off during performances and the actors pick up and carry on.

"The director didn't feel it had affected the performance."

Malvern Theatres spokeswoman Louise Russell said she had never experienced a member of the audience interrupting a performance before.

"The actors did speak up after that but there were no complaints to the box office or the theatre manager during the interval," she said.