"The Show Must Go On" is more than just an old adage. If one of the leads did this, the play doesn't end. Someone else has to go out there and continue the production as the new "Hamlet". Ideally, the play would do an emergency intermission and resolve the issue, but its more likely that OP had to stand there on stage, injecting lines to keep the audience's attention while they got Hamlet's understudy dressed and ready. Its likely that the people paid to see the performance, and would demand their money back if the showing flopped. Imagine if you went to see a movie, and the projector malfunctioned, and the theater just said "Sorry folks, shows over, thanks for your money!". The organization putting on the production probably has a fairly limited budget, in which case they can't afford to loose the funds from a showing. Imagine you're presenting a proposal at work with a colleague, and you'd been working on that proposal for months. You get to presenting it to the big-wigs, y'know, the people who sign the paychecks of the people who sign the paychecks of the people who sign your paycheck. Out of nowhere, your colleague forgets his place, then storms off like a 2 year old. So, yes. This affected the OP. A LOT.