I actually finished the new Harry Potter on Monday night, but that still put me behind several of the rest of the cast. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was kept guessing until the very end, but I’d better not say anymore than that for fear of spoiling it for any of you. A friend of mine has an interesting theory worth mentioning, but I’d better give time enough to be sure you’ve all caught up.

Rehearsals are progressing, if not as smoothly as we’d all like. The main problem is the rate at which we’re losing cast members. A couple of days before rehearsals began we lost the lead bass, and now one of the sopranos had to go home for personal reasons. There’s been frantic shuffling of cast to try and get a workable solution, but if I say that the original cast size was only eleven then you’ll understand the problems this poses. The production team are trying to put a determined, optimistic face on things, but they’re obviously having to change things drastically, and most disappointing is that the show will never be as good as it could have been. The chance of getting anyone else at this stage is tiny, but I think they’re trying nonetheless. I guess we’ll have to get by the best we can…

Tonight I’m off to a friends 21st birthday party, and hopefully the trains will be running well enough to get into central London (can’t quite believe the news recently). I’ll have to remain reasonably sober however, due to a rehearsal again first thing tomorrow. Kate, the director, is very keen on starting the day with strenuous exercise of various types, including vicious stretching and running round fields. I guess better physical fitness can only be a good thing with a four week run ahead of us, but it is a somewhat rude awakening.

It’s terribly frustrating trying to type posts on my phone, and I do worry the quality of my writing is suffering as a result. Obviously my lucid prose fairly shimmers normally (that goes without saying) and I do apologise if my usual high standards are not maintained over the next few weeks. This is obviously technology’s fault, not mine.