Shakespeare’s Globe theatre was evacuated during a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream after sprinklers went off less than an hour in.
A full house of audience members was forced to empty the auditorium on Wednesday night because of a “building systems failure”.
In tweets the Globe said: “Sadly tonight's performance of #midsummernightsdream was interrupted by a building systems failure that necessitated the evacuation of the full house attending the performance.
“The show was able to resume at 8.30. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
Eyewitnesses and theatre-goers described sprinklers going off a short time into the production.
Lauren Davidson tweeted: "Globe Theatre currently being evacuated after fire sprinklers started going off 20ish minutes into performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"Thatch roofed packed space is EXACTLY where you want to be in a fire."
Shakespeare's Globe, a modern reconstruction of the traditional 17th century theatre, was built in the 1990s in the style of the original playhouse - with open roof as well as wooden beams and thatching.
The evacuation came hours after a terror scare shut off an area of Kensington near the Israeli Embassy while police carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious vehicle.
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