Tune in tomorrow

Tonight's rehearsal concluded with our second 'stagger-through' to sew together the whole of Act II. It was, given that we're only about halfway through the rehearsal process, surprisingly cohesive and enjoyable; mostly off-book, which meant that we're ready to experiment with characters and dynamic; and great to be an audience for each other in those sections involving only a few people.

We started the evening, however, by working on the final two pages of the second act. Lottie has dropped her bombshell, but we don't yet know all the details, and we have three candidates for the crime. I was irresistibly reminded of an early episode of EastEnders, where several potential candidates for the father of Michelle Fowler's unborn child were implicated; and only in the final moments of the episode was 'Dirty Den' found to be the culprit. This little section had all the ingredients of soap opera: guesses here, accusations there, the final reveal coming seconds before the end of the act. It was all I could do not to call for the theme tune to be played - and, if not the EastEnders percussion, then possibly the Archers. All together now: "dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum-de-dah-dah..."