RALPH FIENNES - FIENNES FIGHTS WEST END BLACKOUT TO PERFORM

British actor RALPH FIENNES has been hailed a hero for his latest West End stage outing - after a power cut left him performing in complete darkness. The English Patient star was preparing for his leading role on the opening night of God Of Carnage at the Gielgud Theatre in London on Tuesday night (25Mar08) when the blackout hit the city's theatre district - halting the performance by ten minutes. But Fiennes proved his artistic integrity by taking to the stage with only the gleam of an emergency backstage light to view his path - wrapping up to cheers of admiration from the bemused audience. Musical impresario Sir Cameron MACkintosh, the theatre's owner, later thanked the audience for their patience, joking that "he hadn't shortchanged the (electric) meter." However, the play's translator Christopher Hamilton, didn't find the dark-plunged first night funny, insisting he felt "suicidal" when the performance was temporarily postponed. He says, "The English quite like all that and the audience got right behind it. I think we'll get the sympathy vote."