Friday 13th March 2026

Woke to alarm at 0730. Hauled myself out of bed and showered. Descended for porridge. No sign of mein hosts, so set the house alarm before driving off to Basford. Nice day...though a bit cold in the breeze. Worked though the dance routines for This Old House, and It's in His Kiss before lunch break. Ate my packed lunch...two courses...soup, followed by salmon salad. Worked on the Stand By Me sequence, and finished the rehearsal with the Hit the Road Jack, routine. My neck pain and headache surged afterward...I think it's my wobbly drunken head acting that is doing the damage. Took more ibuprofen. Gave David Ahmad a lift to Stoke station...he was headed back to Finsbury Park, and had tickets to see the West Ham game. Picked Aki up off the 1626 Euston train, and drove her up to Bakewell Street. Got her settled, then we walked round to Sean and Jenny's on Westland Street in the drizzle. Sean's brother Peter opened the door and let us in...Sean then drove us down to Newcastle...we had a dinner appointment at 1830 at Amore in Pepper Street. Funny little place...looks like an old semi-industrial units. The food was homely, and we all enjoyed it. Chatted to Sean and Jenny about the possibility of hooking up with them in Lucca sometime next Spring. Sean has a TV job coming up, playing a murderer in an ITV detective show...and before that he's playing Lady Margaret in Richard III at Stafford! Sean drove us back to Bakewell Street. Watched the News on the laptop. Aki showered before bed...

Thursday 12th March 2026

Alarm at 0730. Hauled myself out of bed around 0810...ate my porridge at my laptop in my room. Drove in to the theatre in the rain, for a 0930 start. Had intended to walk down to the pharmacy to buy ibuprofen, but didn't have time. Did my own physical warm-up...decided I could no longer risk trying to emulate the young 'uns after yesterday...inguinal hernia repair not feeling too bad, but feels like it won't take much to cause me gip, so took it easy today. Continued working Act II today...slow going, but it's all coming together. Ventured over to the theatre for lunch...forgetting it was a matinee performance day...the place was packed with grey-headed couples. Managed to get served quickly, though...went for a sausage sandwich and chips...ate with some cast members in the atrium, as we couldn't get a seat upstairs. More of Act II in the afternoon session. Broke at 1730. I was told I wasn't required for the evening session, so ate my prepared salmon salad in the Green Room with the others, before sloping off in the pouring rain. Needed some leaf salad, so drove out to Wolstanton to investigate the M&S Food Hall...ended up spending £45!!! Drove back to Bakewell Street and filled the fridge. 

Wednesday 11th March 2026

Alarm at 0730. Got up and descended to the kitchen to porridge. Lyndsey was up and working at her laptop...managed to get some recommendations for a possible Sunday pub lunch. Tried making bookings online, but nothing doing...it's Mother's Day on Sunday! Booked somewhere for the evening meal instead. Drove in to Basford for a 0930 start. Pulled something in my groin during the warm up...gave me gip for the rest of the day. Feels like something's moved in the area of my bad inguinal hernia repair! Still got the neck-induced headache too...the paracetamol wasn't doing much...need to buy some ibuprofen. We celebrated Sayan's birthday at tea break, Kate the SM having baked a cake. Struggled through the afternoon session. Steve, the company stage manager, came to have a chat about my hernias...not sure what to do about it all, to be honest. An osteopath might be useful, I guess. Broke at 1800. Had some soup, then drove down to Hartshill to join the Auld Vic team at the Sanctuary Ale House for the pub quiz. Sean and his brother were there, Sayan, and Paul Jones made up my team. We came a creditable fourth, but I won the raffle...£32! I shared my winnings with my team. James and Anne showed up, and Bob, who had been working on a show in Liverpool today. We shared a few reminiscences of productions past. I pushed off around 2145...needed to lie down in a darkened room for a bit!

Tuesday 10th March 2026

Woke to alarm at 0730. Room was cold, but I was glad to sense that my terrible headache of the last few days had lifted. Descended for porridge, and packed a ham salad lunch to take into rehearsals. 0930 start...David Ahmad and myself were interviewed by Moorlands Radio...the interviewer, Dave Stringer, had been at the first night of Good Golly Miss Molly in 1989! The interview went well...good fun. Morning spent working scenes from Act II before Bob had leave...we then concentrated on movement, and song, directed by Bev and Polly. My terrible headache re-appeared after lunch, and I struggled through to dinner time...microwaved lasagne and green vegetables. The evening session was devoted to learning harmonies for Stand By Me. We finished at 2030, and I drove back to Bakewell Street, exhausted...headache very intense. Made my packed lunch for tomorrow in the kitchen. Mein hosts appeared, and I managed to get them to reset the heating to come on at around 0630. FaceTimed Aki, who had had fun as sound operator on the annual JCUK short play, written by one of their number. Got to bed around 2300...

Monday 9th March 2026

Alarm at 0730 after a reasonable nights sleep. Still have a headache…had it since Friday…it feels related to my neck problem, which is beginning to worry me. Got up and showered before heading to Tesco in the car to do some food shopping. Deposited my goods in the fridge back in Bakewell Street. Realised I’d forgotten to buy leaf salad, so drove back and got some more odds and ends. Too late to return to Bakewell Street for porridge, I drove in to Newcastle hoping to buy breakfast from the Greek Bakery, only to find it shut. Headed in to the theatre with no breakfast. 1030 start. Worked through bits of Act II. Broke for lunch...ate my ham salad in the Green Room. Took a walk down to Sainsburys, only to discover it had been demolished and is now a building site. Worked on until dinner break, then on again until 2000, choreographing the beginnings of the boarding up dance, complete with hard hats and ladder. I wandered over to the theatre afterward to catch a bit of The Watch...a Belgian band who specialise in re-creating the early prog rock of Peter Gabriel era Genesis...they were superb, especially the young guitarist. Bailed before they got into their 20 minute encore, and drove back to Bakewell Street. 

Sunday 8th March 2026

 

Woke around 0900. Aki cooked brunch, then cycled off to Rowing Club. I did some packing, and then wandered over to Waitrose to buy something for Sunday lunch. Aki back for lunch...confit of duck, with roast sweet potato and carrots, followed by bougasta which I'd bought from the Athenian Bakery on Seven Sisters Road, pimped up with creme fraiche, ice cream, and strawberries. Exchanged farewells on the doorstep, and I took a bus to Finsbury Park station, then a Victoria line train to Euston to catch the 1552 to Stoke. Euston was very busy. Got into Stoke on schedule, and jumped in a taxi to Bakewell Street. Mein hosts were not home...sat in my room for an hour or so, but it was cold, and failed to warm up, so I decided to venture into Newcastle to watch a film...Elvis Presley In Concert. FaceTimed Aki before heading off in the car. Parked up in Goose Street car park. Hoped to buy a bag of chips in The Dancing Octopus, but there was a queue, and service was slow. Gave up and walked to the cinema. Had a hot dog there before I went in. The movie was OK...a bit too frantic, Baz Lurhman likes a jump cut! It was a bit dizzying at times! But it was instructive nonetheless...what a voice...he was doing 2 or 3 shows a day during his Vegas residency...but his voice sounded warm and he pumped out hit after hit with seeming effortlessness! He was superhuman! 

Saturday 7th March 2026

Woke around 0500, but managed to nod back off fairly readily. It was 0730 when I next awoke...dozed for half-an-hour or so. Aki got up to pop round to Big Jo's to buy bread...I got up and prepared a ham and egg brunch. Grey day. Had a chat with Lynne and Fraser about the on-going roof problem...trying to get Lynne to set up two or three meetings with potential roofers to get proper quotes. Fraser reckons he's spotted some rot to the rafters where they meet the wall plate immediately below the external brick upstands where the render has sheared away from the brick facings. Walked to Angel via Highbury Fields. Aki bought a sweatshirt on Upper Street, then we headed for Hotel Chocolat to get gifts for Aki's Japanese relatives. Enjoyed a roti for lunch in Camden Passage before returning home on the No.43 bus. Watched Wrexham v Chelsea in the FA Cup...the Red Dragons put up a great fight, but went down 4-2 after having a man sent off. Aki cooked dinner...pan fried salmon teriyaki and rice, with a tasty miso soup. Ice cream and strawberries for afters.