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Believe It or Not (play)

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Believe It or Not
Written byAlec Coppel
Directed byHarold French
Date premieredJanuary 23, 1940 (1940-01-23)
Place premieredNew Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
Genrefarce

Believe It or Not is a 1940 British play by Alec Coppel. It had a short run in Liverpool[1] then London then Coppell directed the play in Australia in 1942 for Whitehall Productions.[2]

Reviewing the 1942 production, Wireless Weekly said it has "all the ingredients of an old-fashioned musical comedy.... But to really amusing, 'Believe It or Not' would have to be burlesqued—not played in deadly seriousness, with every member of the east trying desperately hard to be funny with the material available."[3]

The Sydney Morning Herald said "because of a lack of wit and crisp dialogue, at times comes perilously near to being sordid and unpleasant. Mr. Coppel has attempted to present situations which only a playwright of greater skill and sophistication could successfully handle. The play attempts to achieve its effect by innuendo, which the audience is invited to believe-or not."[4]

Daily Telegraph said "Coppel attempts to substitute action for play construction. When not putting over naughty innuendo, his cast ran dp and down stairs, danced, indulged in significant pantomime, lit petulant cigarettes. When all else failed, there was still Mack Sennett slapstick."[5]

Premise

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According to Wireless Weekly it was "Intended to be a shocker, with the invariable consequences of a visit to Paris by a young London business man who is foolish enough to leave his wife at home to fall to the blandishments of a leering and semi-hysterical purser in the unromantic atmosphere of a liner mid-stream in a Tilbury fog... The plot hinges on the machinations of the family butler... who not only arranges that the husband shall fall in Paris to the charms of his own wife, but attempts to blackmail both his master and mistress."[3]

The Bulletin said "nobody above the mental age of 14 could bear with the thinness of the piece if they stopped to think about it."[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Melbourne Play Wrights". The Age. No. 26, 324. Victoria, Australia. 31 August 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 2 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Women's Letters", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 63 (3248), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 13 May 1942, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-537212212, retrieved 2 November 2023 – via Trove
  3. ^ a b ""Believe It Or Not" At Minerva", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 37 (20), Sydney: Wireless Press, May 16, 1942, nla.obj-726243120, retrieved 2 November 2023 – via Trove
  4. ^ ""Believe It Or Not"". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 32, 563. New South Wales, Australia. 9 May 1942. p. 11. Retrieved 2 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Goings-On at Minerva". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. III, no. 26. New South Wales, Australia. 10 May 1942. p. 28. Retrieved 2 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Sundry Shows.", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 63 (3249), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 20 May 1942, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-537219014, retrieved 2 November 2023 – via Trove
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