Patrick Stewart in stage-door fracas

Theatre-lovers are flocking to see Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen in Samuel Becket's classic play Waiting For Godot, currently playing in Edinburgh. However, such is the brilliance of their performances that some fans have started taking snaps of the two thespians while they are on stage, an act which resulted in an unseemly row between Stewart and a fan outside the stage door earlier this week.

"Are you the arsehole who was sitting in the front tonight?" Stewart (pictured) shouted at an apparently innocent chap who was standing outside the Kings Theatre with a camera. He added: "You know, what I really want to know is how you can sleep at night? I really hope you're pleased with yourself."

The fan was nonplussed. A witness told the Glasgow Daily Record: "There were at least 40 people waiting for autographs and this guy had a big camera and was waiting with a woman at the front of the queue. One of the backstage people came out and said the actors wouldn't pose for pictures or sign anything other than show material in a rather pompous tone."

The drama kicked off when Stewart, best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek movies, emerged. "Someone said he tried to take a sneaky picture of McKellen and Stewart taking their encore at the end of the show and was caught by one of the stewards."

Another witness told the Record: "I think they thought he was paparazzi or something because he had such a big camera but he didn't do anybody harm. The woman [with him] was horrified and clearly upset and walked off but the guy brassed it out.