The Unvarnished Truth is a 1978 play by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 author Royce Ryton

Royce Ryton

Royce Thomas Carlisle Ryton was an English playwright. During the war he served in the Royal Navy; afterward, he went to train as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. As an actor, he played in many repertory theatres, including Bromley, Minehead, and Worthing. He also toured...

.

A comedy drama, The Unvarnished Truth opened in London's West End

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

 at the Phoenix Theatre

Phoenix Theatre (London)

The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....

 in 1978, starring Royce Ryton

Royce Ryton

Royce Thomas Carlisle Ryton was an English playwright. During the war he served in the Royal Navy; afterward, he went to train as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. As an actor, he played in many repertory theatres, including Bromley, Minehead, and Worthing. He also toured...

, Jo Kendall

Jo Kendall

Jo Kendall is a British actress.She played Desdemona in a production of Othello at the A.D.C. Theatre, Cambridge in 1962.In August 1963 she appeared in the West End in London, New Zealand and Broadway, in the Cambridge University revue Cambridge Circus directed by Humphrey Barclay, alongside Graham...

, Graeme Garden

Graeme Garden

David Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...

 and Tim Brooke-Taylor

Tim Brooke-Taylor

Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...

. It later went on a national tour. It was directed by Jonathan Lynn

Jonathan Lynn

Jonathan Lynn is an English actor, comedy writer and director. He is best known for being the co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Personal life:...

 and produced by Michael Codron

Michael Codron

Michael Victor Codron is a British film and theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard...

.

The script was published in 1978 by Samuel French Ltd.

Samuel French Ltd.

Samuel French Ltd is the UK sister company of Samuel French Inc., an American company, bearing the name of its co-founder Samuel French. The company publishes stage plays for the UK market, mostly acting editions, serves as licensing agent for performance rights, and runs the UK's leading...

.

Synopsis

Tom and Annabel are a reasonably happy married couple. One evening they have an argument as to who loves the other most. A rough-and-tumble ensues, and Tom discovers to his horror that Annabel is dead. So starts an evening of black farce. The hysterical ending finds the stage littered with female corpses and frantic males.

External links

• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6505027.ece'Royce Ryton: actor and playwright who wrote more than 30 plays' The Times
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  June 16 2009]
• Ryton and the British Theatre Guide