One Henry Higden, a dramatic writer about the close of the seventeenth century, wrote a comedy, called the Wary Widow, in which he introduced so many drinking scenes, that the actors were completely drunk before the end of the third act, and being therefore unable to proceed with the play, they dismissed the audience.
Another snippet from The Mirror of Taste and Dramatic Censor (Volume 1, Issue 4, April 1810.).
This anecdote is also recounted in Biographia Dramatica (The Google Books edition is from 1812, based on a 1782 edition).