Fringe fiasco - opening show lasts 8 minutes!

Loud and unexpected noises are key features of RASH, a solo play about my experiences working in Rwanda after the genocide. So when fire alarm bells rang loud today throughout the Pleasance Dome Theatre 8 minutes into my opening show, the audience stayed put thinking it was part of the play. The stage manager had to put on all the lights and convince people to leave. Twenty members of my family, and family friends, who had hired a bus from Glasgow to Edinburgh to support my first preview, stood outside for an hour until they were told the show was cancelled. Thank goodness it wasn't raining. They have ensured me that they are sufficiently enticed by the opening act and claim they will return!