Stage jams at top festival event

Ticket sales at the festival have already passed the £2 million mark

The first performance of a high-profile play at Edinburgh's International Festival has been abandoned because the revolving stage became stuck.

Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida has a cast of 30 and numerous scenery changes, but a mechanism jammed.

It was "a very, very rare occurrence", marketing director Joanna Baker told the BBC's Reporting Scotland.

Most of the audience had turned down refunds in favour of attending another show during its two-week run, she said.

Complex mechanics

"We're obviously offering a refund if they couldn't come again, but probably 60 or 70% who have called so far have asked to come again to see another performance."

The play is running at the King's Theatre, where it is scheduled for 15 performances.

It is described by the festival as a "powerful epic, set after seven long years of war between Greece and Troy".

"If you're doing complex stage mechanics, it's like anything - it's like a car. Things can sometimes break down," Ms Baker said.

"We were very unlucky."