ONLY a few days to go before the closing date for events for the Worcester Festival. As I write this, we have 285 events registered, but there are still more to come, and I am confident that we shall exceed last year's record total of 307.

It is difficult not to get excited anticipating the start on August 11 knowing all the great things that are booked. There's even more street theatre this year, so on Saturdays especially, the whole city centre should be buzzing. The fireworks are always my favourite. Bring it on, I say.

Shakespeare At The Commandery is beginning to keep me awake at night. There is just so much to think about, and I am directing the play (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and am also in it (yes, I've run out of actors, so it looks as if I have to take to the boards once more, having sworn I would never do it again. Who could forget my Captain Ben Dover in Dick Whittington at the Swan four years ago? Just about everybody if they have any sense!).

It means that one moment I am thinking about what the Fairies are going to wear on their feet, and the next, how many times the toilets will need emptying in two weeks. It's a funny old world in the arts!