An Angus theatre group followed the showbusiness adage of “the show must go on” when there was a power cut halfway through their performance on Thursday night.
Carnoustie Musical Society had been performing the classic New York musical Guys and Dolls when the lights went out midway through the second half.
With Carnoustie High School Theatre plunged into darkness, the cast continued for another 10 minutes despite the fact the PA system was down and the orchestra could not read the music.
While the group waited for lights to return, long service awards were presented. Then cast member Rodger Brunton stepped in to give a one-man comedy routine.
After more than 20 minutes, the cast finally admitted defeat and lit the exits for the packed audience with their mobile phones.
Mr Brunton, who is the musical society’s secretary, said: “Ironically it happened at a point in the show where people were playing poker and crap shooting in a sewer I’m sure half the audience thought it was a strange lighting effect.
“The audience had a laugh and a joke about it. We actually kept going for about 10 minutes in the dark. We tried to string it out for as long as possible.
“I do a bit of after dinner speaking and stood up and told a few stories just to try to keep them going for 10 minutes but it wasn’t long enough to let the Hydro board sort it.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever had something like this happen. We offered people the chance to come to Friday night’s performance for free.
“We’ve promised to do the show in another 10 years and people can bring their tickets back then.”
A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said the fault affected 894 customers in the Carnoustie area.
The spokesman said: “The power cut began at 21.32 and we restored all supplies by 22.39.
“There was a fault on our underground network. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption this fault caused our customers.”