Nicholas Quirke was alarmed as he was pulled into the new day to see that it was 8.30am. He had some speedy getting ready to do to avoid being late meeting Cathie at Nero’s. Rory joined them and he had to endure some teasing, as he always had even at 17, before they settled into an enjoyable last catch up. So enjoyable that he missed the 2 hour deadline for moving his car out of Churchill Square Car Park costing him a horrific £5.50. He was lunching with his friend Philip Reeve who was visiting Brighton from Dartmoor and they settled on the trendy and stylish and absurdly overpriced Silo. It was great to catch up despite the strange formality of their dining environment. In 1998 Nicholas had produced, Directed and acted in the wonderful Musical, written by Philip and Brian Mitchell, ‘The Ministry of Biscuits’ which started in the Brighton Fringe, toured the South East and the Edinburgh Festival. The Foundry Group have now staged a revival which is running till Mid December at the lantern and he bought tickets for himself and Peta. He met up with Phil beforehand in the Sidewinder and finally met the colourful and vivacious Sarah Macintyre,  along with reconnecting with Jo Moore and Laurence and Justin. The performance was well attended and it was great to catch up with Lynn, Lou, Christian, Sue and others. Brian was playing the role Nicholas originated and when he encountered Brian he couldn’t stop himself from saying, ‘You are doing a great job Brian, but I have to say I was so much better’! It was a wonderful production with lovely performances, David Mounfield from the original cast still extremely funny, and it was great to see again the brilliant film that Ben Rivers put together, particularly as Nicholas’s sons, who were about 5 and 3 appear in it, creating an emotional start to the night. Nicholas observed that the play is still clever, witty, funny, stylish and relevant and the lyrics and music a delight on every level and he hoped that it would get the wider recognition it deserves. http://lanterntheatrebrighton.co.uk/the-ministry-of-biscuits