Week in oxford

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I've just come to the end of a wonderful week working on changes to the show. This is something which we always do with the tours: the joy is to keep improving and changing and getting it as good as possible. Andrew O'Connor, one of the producers of the tour came over from LA to work on it with me, and Polly and Stephen came up too. We've spent each day rehearsing and talking and trying out new things each night. Some of the changes are quite small, others are large: it's been like being back in previews in Brighton. The last couple of nights we've made big shifts with the very end, which has been hugely exciting. The changes seem to have worked: the audience reactions do appear to be getting better and better. We've been doing notes after the shows until 2 or 3am, then up again for breakfast work, all-day rehearsals and then of course the shows in the evening. All that work has ended today and tomorrow we're off to Sunderland for some relative peace and rest. Sadly this work has not left me any time to explore Oxford: such a beautiful city and somewhere I would happily come to live. But the audiences have been bright and gorgeous and the theatre an absolute dream. After the show, a lovely chat with Nicholas Hoult and his lady Jenny, who had graced the auditorium along with Doug Hodge and his wife Tessa Peake-Jones: my first celeb visits of the tour. I wasn't entirely happy with the show as a stupid technical problem with the new ending upset the rhythm of things at a vital moment… but hey, whaddyagonnado.

Before Oxford we all had a great week in Norwich. The highlight was most likely us all heading to Adam Buxton's farmhouse for lunch with him and his wife Sarah: you'll be delighted to know that the afternoon began with Sarah's exquisite food and finished with Adam showing us silly movies on YouTube. They are a glorious, generous, bright and brilliant couple.

You may also be interested to know that my friend Patrick Hughes has a new book for sale, entitled Paradoxymoron. I can't seem to make links work in this iPad version of WordPress, so copy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paradoxymoron... into Amazon to have a peek if you like. It was at the launch for this book that Alexei Sayle came over to speak to me. I've always been a fan of the great man, who was wearing a black suit and shirt: I plucked a white hair from the front of said shirt as we spoke to find that it was joined to his chest. Great one, Derren.

Enough ramblings. My Highland Park has run dry and I must get to bed. We've been staying at the Old Bank Hotel in Oxford and I have to say I don't think I've ever experienced such astonishingly brilliant staff. It's a terrific hotel, and we're all hugely grateful to the entire team for making this stay such a pleasure. Thank you.

Right, nighty-night. Can't wait for the new changes to bed in and feel second-nature. And I hope you like them too. Sleep well. I have just a few hours to try to do the same.

X

PS the picture of me was taken in Cromer by Dennis Grasse, a member of our team who is a great photographer. If you ever find yourself in the greenroom of the National Theatre, those are his on the wall.