Normal Servce Will Be Resumed Shortly

Two performances of the show lie ahead today, a matinee and evening duet, and then life can resume its normal course. Fortunately we appear to have something of a success on our hands. Last night was very smooth technically and chock full of fine performances, and we were lucky to get an excellent audience. As ever it was a reminder of the collaborative nature of the art of theatre - at least one major sequence, and possibly more, owed precious little to the ideas of the director. Wonderful! But I'm missing Ferdinand, who's been down with what looks like that dreaded flu thingy.

Of course, the great thing about live performance is that there are no guarantees. So today we've got it all to do again - and again.

I might just get a chance to do a bit of reading, and listening, before going in, and since there are no major headaches these might get something like my full attention. Although I finished Caleb Williams the other day I've still not read Godwin's alternative ending, actually the original one he wrote in manuscript and then abandoned, which is usefully provided in the World's Classics edition. I'm also keen to resume The Ring and the Book which I last glanced at on Tuesday. I'm still in Book Two, but had been relishing it.

I came home last night to catch the final sequences of Yasmin Ahmad's Gubra, and was reminded of how much I enjoyed it when we saw it in the cinema on its original release. We decided that we really must get it on DVD. After that I just had time for a quick spin of Dylan's Together Through Life (possibly the best late night listening ever put on record) before I folded up completely.

And now it's unfolding time. A blossoming.