Brighton Rock at Watford Palace Theatre

The first thing that strikes you is the set. Palace Pier in Brighton has never looked so threatening. The structure allows movement on a huge scale, up and down the ladders (one which moves around the stage), under the pier and on top. Designer Sara Perks is to be congratulated. Director Esther Richardson (for Pilot Theatre, the York Theatre Royal company) has created a fine, menacing picture of gangsters and their unfortunate interaction with the public.

Bryony Lavery has made a clever adaptation of the Graham Greene novel, taking a different slant to the classic movie starring Richard Attenborough. It is here that Ida, on holiday in the town, carries the moral thread. Her relationship at the beginning with the first murder victim drives her quest to see justice is done and save the young waitress, Rose, from the clutches of the diabolical Pinkie.

I found the whole experience to be enthralling. The acting was borderline OK. Ida was played well by Gloria Onitiri and there were good cameos from lesser characters. However, I found the central performances of Jacob James Beswick as Pinkie and Sarah Middleton as Rose somewhat irritating in their delivery. Otherwise this was a terrific show.

Narcissus Tresamble

These Narcissus have been the most successful bulbs that I have ever planted in pots. The wonderful white colour is almost luminous, especially in the evening. Each stem has two heads with a pretty yellow centre. They have been a great display after the daffodils were over.

Even the yellow Narcissus that I planted in the border last spring, after being in pots, have done well.

What ivy can do

In the autumn, I cut back the bottom of all the ivy I could find that was growing up the ornamental apple tree. But come the spring, it was as healthy as ever. It was then I found the culprit. There was a ivy stem as thick as my thumb climbing up the back of the trunk, disguised as part of the tree. Hopefully, removing as much as I could will have done the trick.

The Garden in April

Two photos from the main border, the first at the beginning of April and the second at the end. The delphiniums are doing so well, you can no longer see the canes I put in to support them. Everything is growing like mad, I can't wait to see when they come into flower.

The forget me nots have spread throughout all the borders. As if the light blue is celebrating another premier league success.

A Quiet Place, Ready Player One and Every Day

I was approaching A Quiet Place with trepidation. Not because it would be scary, but that the silences would be spoilt by noise from the audience. I need not have worried. Those who attended this screening were as quiet as the family on the screen. Director John Krasinski and co writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have created an intelligent and emotional movie from an unpromising concept. Emily Blunt was brilliant as the mother, it was just a pity that the director had to cast himself as the father. He was pretty wooden. However, that did not spoil a wonderfully superior thriller.

Oh dear. I should have realised that there would be an overwhelming portion of CGI sequences in Ready Player One. However, I had thought that with Steven Spielberg in charge, there might be some memorable moments. But I can only remember that dance to "Staying Alive" at the disco. The rest was the same old CGI fantasy. I was surprised to see Mark Rylance. No he couldn't save it (and he didn't wear his hat) and nor could an almost unrecognisable Simon Pegg.

It was film critic Mark Kermode who hinted that Every Day was a surprisingly good movie. In the absence of anything better, I took his advice. Like Mark, I thought that it was an excellent piece of film making. Jesse Andrews made a fine adaptation of the book by David Levithan, and director Michael Bucsy has brought the best out of his (mainly) young cast. I found the story entertaining and engrossing. Good writing never fails. Thank you Mark.

Somewhere Towards The End, may we be forgiven and Final Demand

The reviews were good. The book won the Costa Book Award for best biography. So I was looking forward to what is actually a short memoir of what it is like to be eighty plonk. However, I found Somewhere Towards The End to be dull, repetitive and mainly boring. I don't want to know about her drawing, what she watches on TV (only Wimbledon and Tiger Woods) and illnesses (Barry's prostate). She talks about not reading novels (they might have helped with her prose). Although, like her, I'm not a big fan of "thrills, puzzles and fantasies". There are other types of novels.

There are the occasional lovely pieces about age, but in the main this book does not encourage me to read non fiction. Although I'm getting ready to wade through a huge volume of letters written by Dirk Bogarde. But then, he can write really well. 

Masquerading as a quaint family drama, there is something frantic, crazy and weird going on underneath. I raced through the first forty pages of may we be forgiven, something that is rare for me. So much happens that it was good when this completely linear story (very unusual these days) settles into a more relaxed rhythm. Somewhat episodic, but none the worse for that.

There are multiple characters who wander in and out, and it's sometimes hard to remember who is who. But I managed it, just. I found the last section quite disappointing which was a shame, as up till then I loved this book. Ultimately a cautionary tale, the vast repercussions of a single act of selfishness. 

Brief but powerful, Final Demand is a fairly short novel that follows the repercussions of Natalie's fraudulent plan. But how someone as attractive, bright and strong, as she is, having to resort to crime is beyond me. But it is an entertaining and pacy story with clever, precise and witty writing: "If the brewery had it's way ..... this last genuine local would be revamped into some themed Slug and Lettuce bollocks ....".
I liked it when the author referred to Colin's mother (a family of Yorkshire farmers) "had no truck with displays of feeling" but "fiercely loved her son". It resonated with my own childhood. A note to the editor: "Love Me Do" never reached number one. 

Tring Book Club - The Muse by Jessie Burton

There was so much to enjoy in Jessie Burton's second novel The Muse. I liked the alternating stories, one in 1967 and the other in 1936 and having to guess how they are linked. Some are obvious from early on, but for others, you have to wait until later and much later. It is only at the very end (the last few words) that I realised why one story was written in the first person and the other in the third.

Some of the less crucial set pieces are brilliant. Odelle meeting Lawrie outside the Skelton in 1967 and Don Alfonso's visit to the Schloss family in 1936 are unforgettable. The construction of the plot is very well done. There are flaws, but who cares. I cannot remember the author using the word "muse" so, like me, you have to guess who that is. If it's just one?