Monday 18 March 2024: Theatre review

I finished work bang on time on Thursday and didn’t have time to do any overtime because we were off to the theatre.

Part of my birthday present from the poet was a visit to see Agatha Christie’s THE MOUSETRAP. I’d never seen it before (nor had he) and Todd Carty was in it (Tucker Jenkins out of GRANGE HILL and spin off TUCKER’S LUCK, Mark Fowler out of EASTENDERS, and one of the funniest participants ever on DANCING ON ICE).

So at 5pm I shut up shop and went to get ready. By 5:45pm we were on our way, arriving in town just after 6pm. We found a free parking spot and had dinner at what we think was a Spanish restaurant opposite the theatre. They were Spanish people in the restaurant speaking Spanish to each other, and they served paella, so we made the assumption.

It isn’t a fast food place, so we knew time would be tight. We had a chicken caesar salad with cheesy garlic bread but didn’t have time to sample one of their gorgeous looking cakes. Instead, I had to settle for a very nice ice cream in the theatre. The poet also bought a programme for us and a notebook for me.

The show started promptly at 7:30pm with a 20-minute interval, and it finished promptly at 9:50pm, with one of the players stepping forward to remind us that we were now in a partnership and that we weren’t to reveal whodunnit to anyone. We were back home by about 10:30pm, which is our usual bedtime now, and we sat up for about an hour with the dog.

I didn’t get very much done on Friday at all.

I spent the morning downloading books and magazines to my Samsung tablet so I could take it with me everywhere and still be able to read something, even without a connection. I converted some books to Epub and to Mobi files, then moved them to my Kindle. Once that was done, I did my weekly backup, which always takes a long time and I usually leave it running in the background.

I had a series of emails with a series of clients, including 2 potential clients who I turned down. The book editing client was awaiting a proofread from me, I already had another book in to edit from her, and she said a previous author had asked to work with me again and could I fit her in. A previous client on Reedsy sent me advance warning that she was about to post her next book if I was still interested in it.

My new T-card system from Nobo that was coming today arrived on Friday morning. When the poet got home, he put it together for me, but it’s slightly bigger than the measurements given so we have to move my noticeboard and calendar up the wall about 4 inches so we can fit the T-card system beneath. When it’s up and running, I’ll take a picture so you know how it looks.

Both the poet and I have worked with T-card systems in the past, the very long ago distant past, and we’ve been searching for some kind of electronic replacement for my work because we both agree that you can’t really beat a visual status of any work in progress. I’ve found a project management app I like very much (TickTick), but in the end I caved and just ordered the T-card system. By today it might be up on the wall…

I had a hair appointment that cut the day in two. He had 2 other clients in on Friday who he was juggling, so I was seen to a lot quicker than I usually am and I was back home within the hour. I still had to make something to eat, though, so that was a chunk out of the middle of the day.

By the time I was back at my desk, I was feeling weary, and the only jobs I thought I’d do were today’s blog post and review and the proofreading. I hadn’t finished either by the end of Friday, so that meant I would be working at the weekend. I promised it would be done by the end of the week, so that’s Sunday, right? Find out tomorrow if I made it…

The Mousetrap: Review

We really enjoyed the performance, but we were on the back row of the stalls so while I could make everyone out, I couldn’t quite see the detail on their faces. That didn’t matter, I recognised Todd Carty straight away, and the next actor I spotted was Gwyneth Strong, who played Cassandra in ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES.

They kept the production faithful to the original, which I much prefer to modernising anything. The language was 1950s, the costumes were 1950s, the jokes were 1950s. That alone is worth a whole star for me.

The understudy played Mollie (Hollie Sullivan), but everyone else was as advertised. The Italian character sounded very Welsh (played by Steven Elliott), and Todd Carty surprised us both with his portrayal of the major. However, by far the best was the lad who played Christopher, Shaun McCourt. He played the role with great gusto and seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Of course, we can’t reveal who did it, and when we were reminded of this, that was the icing on the cake for me. I thought they announced it at the beginning, but no, they did it at the end.

Cast Theatre in Doncaster has a full programme of events throughout the year and a members’ club. It’s a smallish auditorium, with main stalls area and a circle. The chairs are very, erm, authentic (i.e. not very comfortable), but we did have plenty of leg room. The best part here, though, is that we can order our interval drinks when we order the tickets, and we don’t have to queue up for them.

Five stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plan for today

I did do some diary work on Friday too, including this week’s diary. I’ve decided to just concentrate on one writing course this week, and that’s SAVE THE CAT WRITES A NOVEL (Writing Mastery Academy). So that means the plan for today looks like this:

• Writing Mastery Academy course
• 12 STORIES IN 12 MONTHS – March (deadline 27 March)
• PIRATE LEGENDS short story (deadline 31 March, but as that’s a Sunday, and Friday’s a holiday, my deadline is 28 March)
• THE SECRET OF WHITEHORSE FARM
• start editing Taliban book for client
• Monkey Dust admin
• weekly backup
• Tomorrow’s blog

What’s on your schedule today?