Saturday 4th March 2023

Another fitful night's sleep...cough getting quite heavy in the morning. Lay in bed for a bit. Aki brought me a mug of hot water and lemon, with a dash of ginger. Got up for a late breakfast, then set about cleaning and tidying the living-room and dining area in advance of our guests this evening. Aki cycled off to Waitrose to get some ingredients. I started prepping. Made a tahini and lemon salad dressing, which will go with the side salad. Made some more pea and kale pesto sauce. Aki made some amaretti biscuits. Kevin and Laurence turned up at 1800, and we sat them down for spaghetti with pesto, and salad, followed by amaretti biscuit with raspberry spoom. It all went down very well. Had to chivvy Laurence on a bit, as she likes to chat, so was a bit slow eating her food! Got out of the flat before 1900 and drove us all to Stoke Newington to see the Spring Forward productions...five short plays/pieces, with different casts, and five new young directors. Feiyang's debut was disappointing, though that had as much to do with the weak actors she's cast as with anything else. There were two actresses who had auditioned for the Company when I was on auditions panel in January...they were both good, especially Thissy. There was an extraordinary performance of a short Winsome Pinnock piece, centred around a black slave in Salem who became the first to be accused of witchcraft ahead of the Salem Witch Trials...I hadn't seen the actress, Faith Martin Abongo, before, but she was captivating, holding our attention for almost half-an-hour...her voice needs a bit of work, but she could be a TV star tomorrow, if the right agent comes along. Altogether, an enjoyable evening's entertainment. I drove us all home, dropping Kevin and Laurence at No.93...