The Moment of Truth (play)

The Moment of Truth
The Moment of Truth London 2013 Poster
Written by	Peter Ustinov
Characters	The Girl The General The Victor The Foreign Minister The Prime Minister The Marshal The Nurse The Photographer
Date premiered	1951
Place premiered	Adelphi Theatre
Original language	English
Subject	The mechanics of toppling governments, the pretenses of war and the power of propaganda.
Genre	Satire, drama, comedy
Setting	The era of World War II, inside the cabinet office and latter a desolate prison.
Official site

The Moment of Truth is a satire comedy drama play by Peter Ustinov written in 1951, telling the story of a republic which is about to fall, while facing the threat of invading army with crippling government structure.

Ustinov wrote the play inspired by French hero Marshal Petain and his political collusion with the Nazi's and the events resulting in creation of Vichy France. The play was first premiered at the Adelphi Theatre, Adelphi in 1951. The play was revived in 2013 at the Southwark Playhouse in Newington Causeway, London by The New Actors Company. The production was directed by Rob Laycock, and opened on 26 June 2013 and closed on 20 July 2013 after 26 performances.

Act One

The play opens with an anonymous Prime Minister, his Foreign Minister and General inside the cabinet office, their country is on the verge of war and they are waiting for their enemy's armies invasion. When The Victor arrived, instead of surrendering they formed a scheme and offer him a deal which will give power to both of them. They uses retired Marshal, who was once a military hero now an old and senile man and made him the dictator of the country behind which they hide and uses him as a puppet.

Act Two

Four years later, General overthrow the puppet government and Marshal who is now much older, is sent to a remote prison after sudden change in leadership of the country. His daughter (The Girl), Nurse and a Photographer who captures the daily life of Marshal stand by him.

In June 2013, the play was revived by The New Actors Company and performed at the Southwark Playhouse in Newington Causeway, London.

The play was adapted as a TV film for the Sunday Night Theatre, a long-running series of televised plays created by BBC and aired on 6 March 1955.Peter Ustinov himself played the role of The Marshal while rest of the characters were played by Peter Cushing as The Prime Minister, Jeanette Sterke as The Girl, Walter Rilla as The Victor, Donald Pleasence as The Foreign Minister, Hugh Griffith as The Photographer, Ian Colin as The General and Noel Hood as The Nurse.