Of course I have complete faith in our creative teams; I have no doubt that they will easily hit a high standard. But if they are anything like me, there is a pesky voice of professionalism in their heads which seeks to destroy the ramshackle ‘Gomito element’ that I think makes our shows so enjoyable. Already that voice is asking “wouldn’t it be nice to have a script set in stone before rehearsals? Couldn’t we do with polishing the design? We do have a slightly bigger budget for materials” It’s the voice of being sensible, of doing what we expect from theatre. Of course sometimes polishing is great, but not at the expense of inventiveness and charm.

So to success-proof us I have written myself a manifesto (on the back of an envelope, in crayon); it pledges my allegiance to Poundland wallpaper paste and screwed up brown paper. To terrible Mexican accents and ridiculous battle scenes with staple guns. To surprises, silliness, props stolen from skips and to never growing up. 

My note is a reminder that however successful the Company becomes to make a great show the important people are the audience, we will always have something to prove to them.