by Enid Bagnold

The wealthy, elderly Mrs St Maugham thinks she is a good gardener and a wonderful grandmother, but the results suggest otherwise. Can the enigmatic Miss Madrigal help her to succeed? And what is Miss Madrigal's secret? Enid Bagnold's ever-popular 1950s play The Chalk Garden engages on many levels. This is much more than a knowing comedy, combining sharp wit with psychological observation and a sympathetic account of human unhappiness. To quote Kenneth Tynan: "we eavesdrop on a group of thorough-bred minds, expressing themselves in speech of an exquisite candour, building ornamental bridges of metaphor, tiptoeing across frail causeways of simile".