Malcolm Sowerby says that he was inspired to write a play putting to right the tyranny of Henry Bolckow as an employer; his research revealed that, for the time at least, Bolckow treated his workers well, thus closing that avenue off.

Bolckow was kind to the inhabitants of Middlesbrough in general as well, donating Albert Park to the town, and building schools. At Marton Hall (the setting for our play), he had a fine collection of art, at least some of which is being recreated and will appear on the set.

I only really said that to avoid another post along the lines of "Set's going well". But it is going well; there's paint going on, there's lights starting to go up and all that jazz. Hurrah.

Well, what do you know? Take a few weeks away from the theatre, and you arrive back to find that someone's gone and built a set:

Apparently most of this was done in the space of about two hours. We're in the process of sorting out various details around the set which, as ever, is turning out to be the time consuming bit. Still, time is on our side for a change.

Nearly finished! Just a few licks of paint needed in a couple of places, and then we're pretty much ready to go.

Tonight was the first time we'd run the show with lights and sound, and it went pretty well. I even managed to sneak a quick photo.

Jane wants some photos of the new set, and what Jane wants....

Here's Fred being closely 'supervised' by Colin.They're working on one of the two 12-foot towers that we've made (I was actually let loose with the jig-saw on some of the windows on the other one, so if they're squint, don't blame Fred!)

Here's Malcolm painting the floor - some of the action takes place inside the book "A beginner's guide to chess", hence the chessboard.

And this is Claire with the ubiquitous masking tape. If you've never helped build a set, you'd be amazed just how much of it is masking tape!

Sorry the blog has been a bit sparse. My new job requires me to travel around a lot - I'm off to Liverpool tomorrow! - so I haven't had much time. If anyone out there would like to contribute, please let me know and I'll set up a password for you...

This is a tribute to Ricky, the scene-stealing poodle. I made this poodle-shaped wreath out of chicken wire and tissue paper (under Norman's instructions), and I'm so proud because he got one of the best laughs of the night, every night!