''Opening Night'' is a

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Det ...

; it is the sixteenth novel to feature

Roderick Alleyn Roderick Alleyn (pronounced "Allen") is a fictional character who first appeared in 1934. He is the policeman hero of the 32 detective novels of Ngaio Marsh. Marsh and her gentleman detective belong firmly in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, ...

, and was first published in 1951. It was published in the United States as ''Night at the Vulcan''. The novel is one of the theatrical ones for which Marsh was best known, and concerns the murder of an actor backstage on opening night of a new play in London. The play is being performed at the Vulcan Theatre; it was formerly known as the Jupiter Theatre, renamed after an infamous murder recounted in the Alleyn short story "I Can Find My Way Out". The old crime is referenced in the text. Martyn Tarne, a young and inexperienced actress from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, finds herself involved in a play where her own heredity plays a significant role in a minor part. As the understudy for a minor role, Martyn is caught up when Inspector

begins investigating a murder made to appear a suicide. The book also sees the return of Lord Michael Lamprey. A child witness in ''A Surfeit of Lampreys'' (American title ''Death of a Peer''), he was a civilian eager to join the police force in "I Can Find My Way Out", and he appears in ''Opening Night'' as a police constable attached to the CID.

Television adaptation

''Opening Night'' was one of four Alleyn novels adapted for New Zealand television in 1977 as

Ngaio Marsh Theatre The Ngaio Marsh Theatre is a theatre at the University of Canterbury Students' Association in Christchurch, New Zealand. The Ngaio Marsh theatre was named in honour of Dame Ngaio Marsh, who was a director and patron of theatre, especially Shak ...

; Alleyn was played by George Baker.

References

Roderick Alleyn novels 1951 British novels Novels about actors Novels set in London Collins Crime Club books British detective novels {{1950s-crime-novel-stub