''Top Secret'' is a comedy play by

Alan Melville Alan Melville (19 May 1910 – 18 April 1983) was a South African cricketer who played in 11 Tests from 1938 to 1949. He was born in Carnarvon, Northern Cape, South Africa and died at Sabie, Transvaal. Early life and cricket career Melville w ...

which was first performed in 1949. It is a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

revolving around an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle before transferring to the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's West End where it ran for 21 performances between 19 October and 5 November 1949. The original West End cast included Tom Gill,

Hugh Wakefield Hugh Wakefield (10 November 1888 – 5 December 1971) was an English film actor, who played supporting roles. He was often seen wearing a monocle. Hugh Claude Wakefield was born in Wanstead, Essex. He also had a distinguished stage career, whic ...

, Frederick Valk and Beryl Measor. It was not well-received, and was reportedly booed by audiences on its opening night. A review in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' considered it was too long and needed speeding up.Wearing p.471 Its short run was in contrast to Melville's other play of 1949, '' Castle in the Air'' which was a hit running for nearly 300 performances.

References

Bibliography

* Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1949 plays Comedy plays West End plays Plays by Alan Melville {{1940s-play-stub