Misery – Newark Palace Theatre

It cannot be easy to bring a well-known film to the stage and make it work so well.

On the big screen, the actors can shoot, re-shoot, use camera tricks and all kinds of devices to tell their story.

On the stage at Newark, Julie Fox and Matthew Hewitt get this Stephen King tale spot on and manage to make us smile and squirm in equal measure, as they make an easy connection with the audience.

They work well together to convey writer Paul Sheldon’s descent into hell when imprisoned by his “greatest fan” after a road accident.

As schizophrenic Annie takes control of “her” author at her isolated farmhouse, she realises she need to keep him there longer if he is to pen a personal sequel for her – and stops at nothing to keep him there. The scene where she breaks his ankles as a safeguard against his escape is particularly well handled, and sent a palpable shudder through the audience.

One gripe was the lengthy pauses used to denote the passage of time, where the theatre is plunged into darkness to the strains of an electric guitar lament. They could only have been ten or twenty seconds but each and every one would have been a more comfortable with just a few seconds less each time. Or maybe it was the ideal time-out to hammer home the agony of Paul Sheldon as he plots his shocking release.

And although it was only a small audience, the actors could surely have found time for a second curtain call so we could have shown our appreciation a little longer.

When it's all in the eye of the beholder...

With days at the office now potentially numbered, I'll miss the little gems of knowledge teased out during the working day.

We play the birthday quiz from time to time, and Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop IV etc) was on the list today.

"Isn't he the voice of Garfield?" says one.

"No that was Bill Murray."

Well I wouldn't know either way, as I never liked Garfield on television. But I did like the newspaper strip.

Of course, this kind of preference is in the eye of the beholder, and bringing a cartoon strip to life can kill off your own personal impression of how the characters interact with each other.

Fred Basset seemed to work for me. Not so much The Perishers. And Peanuts was always a joy.

For the record, it's Bill Murray in the Garfield film, while the TV series was voiced by Lorenzo Music.

"Mmmm... Lasagna."

The Sociable Plover - Newark Palace Theatre

Perfectionist twitcher Roy Tunt is ready to catch a rare species on film and tick another box on his list of British birds, the most important, which will complete his set and make him one of the elite.

This is the premise of The Sociable Plover (Vanellus gregarious and a wader in the lapwing family of birds, which is critically endangered).

Gnome collector, scoutmaster and with a broken marriage behind him, is Roy (Guy Masterson) a knowledgable perfectionist or a pedantic OCD-suffering nerd? The banality of his life is painful.

He is suddenly joined in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the hide by gruff, mysterious “Dave John”, wringing wet, and hungry, after not having eaten for three days. Dave (Ronnie Toms) says his brother has just died while serving in the RAF.

And although a slightly sinister presence after the square behaviour of Roy, the audience can easily warm to his Londoner's charm and attempts at conversation with his new-found friend.

The action, set in an L-shaped bird hide of around 12 square yards, veers from black comedy to taut thriller and unfolds to reveal a twist so unexpected that it would be unfair to reveal any more of the plot.

Suffice to say, the 100 or so who turned up at the Palace in Newark to witness it would have done well to bring a few more friends along to enjoy this perennial favourite.

Written and directed by Tim Whitnall, The Sociable Plover mimics Pinter's two handers to some extent but is less coded and readily accessible.