Sunday In The Park with NYMT

I worked through the morning on Em up in Highgate Village. I'm such a regular there now that they start to make my pot of tea as soon as they see me standing in the queue. I no longer need to ask for a glass a tap water with my order either. That's what I call service!

Nathan came up to join me in the early afternoon and sat knitting for an hour whilst I worked. His knitting created a huge stir with a group of Swedish people who were sitting at the next door table. I guess I'm used to it now, but the sight of a bearded bloke wearing a leather jacket, knitting almost inconceivably complicated and beautiful pieces of fabric, is probably quite trippy to your average Joe. He's presently knitting an exquisite scarf which is based on 16th Century Italian needlepoint designs. That's my husband! The Swedes immediately asked if he was a designer.

I drove down to Sevenoaks in the late afternoon to see this year's NYMT cohort rehearsing Sunday In The Park with George. I wanted to check in with Jeremy and see Hannah who's directing that particular production. Six or seven Brassers are also in the show, so I wanted to say hello to them as well.

We had tea in the canteen. Nothing ever changes at the NYMT camp, and that's part of its appeal. It's like a massive extended family. The two Jeremys are the father and grandfather. I remember Laura from the cast of Brass once telling me I was the weird Uncle. Cheers for that!

I ate with Ben Holder sitting on one side of me and Alex Aitken on the other. They were the MDs for the first two productions of Brass. I didn't know which one to give my attention to. It felt unfaithful turning my back on either!

I sat in on an hour of rehearsals for Sunday In The Park with George, which has the most delightful cast. Hugely talented. They sing and act beautifully. Sometimes it's hard to know how some of them possess the emotional maturity to deliver the lines with such authority and understanding. I definitely felt as though I were sitting with a group of very old souls.

I drove home listening to the live recording of Brass, which Alex has been working on for what must be ages because it sounds wonderful. I stuck the sat nav on and just relaxed into listening to the show. The memories came flooding back. The sat nav made me laugh when we reached Islington by pronouncing "St Paul's Road" as "Street Paul's Road." Obviously it's been programmed to recognise St as "street!" Bed time now. Night night.