Saturday 28th March 2026

Alarm at 0730. Fitful night's sleep, but not too bad. Woke at 0330, but got back to sleep after half-an-hour. Calf muscle in my left leg went into spasm on waking! Desperately need a rest! Got up and made tea. Porridged in my room. Aki FaceTimed from a hotel room in Nagano...she and Naoya had driven up with his father's ashes...Buddhist ceremony tomorrow at the graveyard family plot. Drove in to Basford for a 0930 start. Ran Act I at 1100...ran into immediate problems with the head mics, which demanded a computer reset. Run went pretty well thereafter, I thought, though there were some hiccups along the way. Broke at 1330. I cooked my chicken and mushroom pie in the oven and ate in the atrium. Drove back to Bakewell Street. My shirt had been delivered by Toast...but it's way too big, so will have to be sent back...what a palaver! Drove into Hanley and dropped the shirt off at the Post Office in the Potteries Centre, then had a wander around the city centre...very depressing! What a hole!!! Bought a microwaveable heat mask for my eye in Boots, and one for my neck in Superdrug, then wandered down to take a look at Little Dumpling King, a highly recommended eatery...looks worth a visit. Paid homage at the feet of Sir Stanley Matthews in the city centre, then drove back to Bakewell Street. Feel so tired...as if I've been run over by a steamroller! Pottered about for a bit, then drove to Hartshill for dinner at Kismet...but they were busy, and couldn't fit me in...so I ordered a takeaway, and had a swift half in the Old House At Home. Ate my dinner in the morning room at Bakewell Street, watching the last two episodes of series 2 of Trying...got a bit soppy, but lots of quirky comedy still to be had...delicious! 

Friday 27th March 2026

Alarm at 0730. Lay in for 15 minutes before rising and descending to the kitchen to make tea. Ate my porridge in my room. Feel pretty achey this morning...headache still hovering in the wings, and my bad inguinal hernia repair giving me a lot of gip! Left the strapping on my left ankle in place overnight. Drove into Basford for a 0915 start. Continued working through Act I, focussing on lights and sound. Long, drawn out process. Lunched on burrata and sun dried tomatoes, and a mushroom and chicken pasta microwaved meal. Long afternoon/evening session. Finished around 1930. Sat in the atrium and ate my pre-prepared chicken and avocado salad. Too whacked to join the gang for a beer at the Hop Inn...drove to Tesco to do a bit of shopping. Filled the fridge back at Bakewell Street. Retired to my room with a mug of mint tea and a bag of nuts!

Thursday 26th March 2026

Alarm at 0730. Left eye completely closed. Descended to make tea...brought my porridge back upstairs to eat in my room. FaceTimed Aki, but she was in a restaurant with her niece, and her fella...I gave them a wave before terminating the call. Drove in to the theatre for a 0915 start. Tweaked something in my left foot during the warm up. attempting a couple of Nureyev leaps! Got more painful as the technical rehearsal wore on. Had it strapped up before attempting the Kiss of Life choreography. 

Seemed to do the trick. Cooked a small pizza for lunch. Ate in the atrium. Plodded on with the tech for the long late afternoon session. My headache started to make an unwelcome return! Took a couple of ibuprofen. Broke at 1945. Ate my packed lunch at my dressing table before driving back to Bakewell Street. Watched the second half of the World Cup qualifier between Wales and Bosnia...corking goal from Dan James! Game went to extra time...Wales losing out i the penalty shoot out.

Wednesday 25th March 2026

Woken by my phone at 0720...it was Aki phoning from Izumi's flat in Tokyo. She'd gotten her time calculation an hour wrong. She said she'd phone back, so I went downstairs to make tea and brought my porridge back to my room. Aki rang back...she's off to meet her Ilya colleagues this evening. My left eye more swollen than it's been, but not as painful, so hopefully things are on the mend! Drove in to Basford for a 0915 start. Gentle warm up in the SJR. Then into costume, donning our battery packs and head mics, for an elongated sound check. Tea break saw a theatre community get-together in the atrium to wish Debbie Hall a long and happy retirement...she has worked in the Vic wardrobe department for 35 years! Back into the theatre for more of the same, then broke for lunch. Ate my chicken salad in the atrium, chatting with Polly and Bob about past shows. Finished sound checking after lunch, which meant starting the technical rehearsal, taking it from the top of the show. All went smoothly, if rather slowly. Call ended at 2000. Ate my microwaved ham and mushroom pasta dish in the atrium before driving back to Bakewell Street.

Lyndsey was hanging about...she's about to put a bid in on a bungalow in Embleton, within walking of Dunstanburgh Castle. It's a two-bed 1970s unit with faux stone clad external walls...needs work. Guide price of £250,000 doesn't seem unreasonable...she's thinking of offering £257,500. See what happens! Made my packed lunch for tomorrow...managed to drop half a tub of garlic aioli on the floor! Got it cleaned up before Lyndsey got back from walking Wilson. Made myself some tea and headed for my room.

 

Tuesday 24th March 2026

Fitful night's sleep. Woke around 0800 and sat up listening to Today on R4 for an hour before descending to make tea. Porridged in my room. Showered. Spent an hour on the laptop looking for alternative quotes for my car insurance, which comes up for renewal at the end of the month. Comparethemarket.com suggested £550 with Direct Line, but when I put my details in to their website, they quoted me £950! So decided to stick with Churchill at £750. Daylight robbery!!! 

Drove in to the theatre. Pottered about for a bit before walking down King Street into town. Sought advice about tackling my sty at Boots...they suggested warm compresses, so I bought some cotton pads for the purpose, and some razors. Enjoyed a coffee in Piccoloco. Walked back up to the theatre via the Greek Bakery. Lunched on chicken tikka masala and rice from the atrium microwave. Company called at 1600 for a Health & Safety briefing, and a look backstage. Set looks great...a recreation of a working men's club, complete with dance floor and sticky carpet. Broke at 1830. The lads walked off into town for a beer, and I promised to meet them at the Heart of Siam for dinner. Drove down...parked up near the restaurant...had to sit in the car for about 15 minutes waiting for the pouring rain to stop. Made a dash for the restaurant...eight of us in all. Great food. A very pleasant evening. Drove back to Bakewell Street around 2130...put tomorrow's packed lunch together before ascending to my room...

Monday 23rd March 2026

Reasonable night's sleep, though disturbed by some sporadic neck pain. Got up around 0830 and showered. Made a cuppa tea, then headed in to the theatre. Popped into the dressing rooms to bag my old berth, then headed up to the restaurant for a fry up with some of the cast members. Repaired to the rehearsal room for a final full run before we transfer over to the theatre space tomorrow. It all felt a bit Monday morningish, but we were done by 1440...I sloped off for my osteopath appointment at HJO...young Asian chap, born and bred in the Potteries...nice bloke.

His premises were a notch or three above those of Sharon Bradbury. He was very good...had a good go at the nerve pinch points, and cracked my upper back! Walked back up to the theatre. Sorted my dressing room out a bit, and started the process of shaving off my beard...left a goatee, and mutton-chop sideburns, for now. Aki phoned from Heathrow...she had checked in, and was preparing to board her flight to Japan. My left eyelid looks a bit red and swollen...has been a bit painful since Saturday...don't know what's going on there! A sty, perhaps? Don't think I've ever had a sty. Drove down to Sainsburys to do a shop, then took a walk around the town centre before popping in at the Dancing Octopus for haddock, chips and mushy peas. Ate them in the car in the Sainsburys car park. Drove back to Bakewell Street and loaded up my fridge. Watched 'Trying' on my laptop...laugh-out-loud good! The News then bed...

Sunday 22nd March 2026

Woke around 0915. Got up and cooked brunch. Lazy morning. Packed ahead of my journey back to Stoke this afternoon. FaceTimed Kath who gave us a tour of her re-decorated bathroom; phoned dad expecting him to be able to hear better with his new hearing aid…but he had to take it out in order to hear me over the landline! Jim texted a photo from St James's Park after Newcastle had gone down 2-1 to the Mackems! Everyone appeared to be waving the White Flag! Popped out to buy sweet potato while Aki prepared a roast chicken late lunch. Headed off to Euston to catch the 1552 back to Stoke. Walked up to Richmond Street from the station and jumped in the car, and headed back to Bakewell Street. Greeted by Lyndsey, who was awaiting the arrival of a former lodger...they were planning to head out for a curry. A little disturbed to find that Lyndsey was suffering from a hoarse voice...don't want to catch that! Astounded to learn that Aidan had travelled to Plymouth yesterday to watch Huddersfield Town go down by 3-1!!! I sorted my socks and underpants out...Aki had kindly washed the lot on Saturday. Listened to the latter moments of the Arsenal v Man City League Cup Final. Phoned Aki, who was endeavouring to complete her packing ahead of flying out to Japan tomorrow evening. Watched the last two episodes of Small Prophets...a work of quiet genius! The final episode ended with the words To Be Continued...