Show goes on after lights go out

God of Carnage is written by Yasmina Reza

Theatre critics watched the opening night of a West End play in near darkness after a power cut hit parts of central London.

God Of Carnage, starring Ralph Fiennes, opened before a packed Gielgud Theatre on Tuesday night, but the lights went down about an hour into the show.

Theatre owner Sir Cameron Mackintosh went on stage to explain, joking: "I haven't short-changed the meter."

After a short delay the show continued with emergency lighting only.

A theatre spokesman said: "It was fine. The audience went along with it, really.

"There was never any suggestion that it would be abandoned because it was the first night with all the critics."

Good reviews

The comedy stars Fiennes as a lawyer whose 11-year-old son hits another child in the school playground. He and his wife (Tamsin Greig) are invited to the victim's home to discuss the incident with his parents.

It also stars Janet McTeer and Ken Stott.

Despite the power problems, the show received a positive review from critics.

Nicholas de Jongh, from the Evening Standard, praised Fiennes for his "clever, beautifully pitched, black comedy performance".

He added that the lighting problems "did not dim the confidence or the power of their (the actors') performances".

Telegraph critic Charles Spencer said the play offers "offers a crackling night of electrifying comic acting - even with the lights at half power".

The power failure - the third major power cut in the West End in the past four years - also affected businesses in Shaftesbury Avenue, Archer Street and Brewer Street.

A spokeswoman for EDF energy said: "Power was interrupted to 16 customers in parts of Shaftesbury Avenue, Archer Street and Brewer Street in London following a fault on the underground electricity network at 8.13pm yesterday.

"EDF Energy Networks engineers worked as quickly and as safely as possible to repair the fault, with all customers back on supply by 10.43pm."