''Outrageous Fortune'' is a

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endi ...

by the British writer

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is most notable for his long-running series of farces first staged in the 19 ...

. 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 comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

, it premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Newcastle The Theatre Royal is a historic theatre, a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. History George III authorised the founding of a theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1780s. Newcastle's original Theatre Royal o ...

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, New York, U.S. Originally designed by architect William Albert Swasey, it opened in 1911. The Winter Garden's current des ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's West End where it ran for 250 performances from 13 November 1947 to 19 June 1948. The West End cast included

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, Order of the British Empire, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the p ...

Ralph Lynn Ralph Clifford Lynn (8 March 1882 – 8 August 1962) was an English actor who had a 60-year career, and is best remembered for playing comedy parts in the Aldwych farces first on stage and then in film. Lynn became an actor at the age of 1 ...

and Gordon James. A review in ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' said it "has grandly reestablished the old "

Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it, in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, and is part of the West End of London, West End West End Theatre, Theatreland. T ...

" tradition."''The Illustrated London News, Volume 211''. Illustrated London News & Sketch Limited, 1947. p.674

References

Bibliography

* Wearing, J. P. ''The London Stage 1940–1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1947 plays Plays by Ben Travers Plays set in England Plays set in London British comedy plays West End plays {{1940s-play-stub