Theatregoers have been offered refunds or replacement tickets after a power cut forced the cancellation of productions at the RSC's home in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The company apologised to approximately 1,400 patrons who were due to see productions of As You Like It and Speaking Like Magpies on Thursday night.
An RSC spokesman said both performances had been due to start in the Royal Shakespeare and Swan theatres at 7.30pm, 50 minutes after the power cut plunged thousands of homes in the area into darkness.
The spokesman continued: "Obviously we were hoping to put the performances on and we kept people abreast of what we were doing, but at 7.45pm a decision was made to cancel.
"We had a conversation with the electricity company and they weren't able to give us an indication as to when electricity would be returned.
"It turned out that it was the right decision as the electricity didn't come back until ten o'clock.
"It was very unfortunate but it was obviously something that was out of our control."
Anyone affected by the cancellations is asked to contact the RSC box office on 0870 6091110 for a full refund or a new ticket of the same value.
