Bank Holidays at this time of year are not particularly restful; they just slow everything down and I can be a bit of a curmudgeon at this time of year. Frankly that is nothing new since I am quite allergic to Christmas as well. And August Bank Holiday. And May Day....

I've been musing on the age old arguments about updated productions against traditional. If you think I'm going to offer an analysis here you are out of luck: if it works, it works is all I will offer. What got me thinking was seeing a dvd of a Zeffirelli film. He is relevant to the issue because he once wrote a long article in an Italian newspaper in which he fired off a broadside at modern productions. In the course of the article he picked on our production of Tosca from 2007 (which he hadn't seen I hasten to add) and declared it an outrage to end all outrages because we had set it in 1968 and taken, in his view, unspeakable liberties with it. We hadn't of course but whaddya gonna do? His assault on us remains one of our proudest moments.

It is funny how being insulted by famous people can be a source of pleasure. Richard Dreyfuss once told me that he didn't understand a word I was saying on account of my London accent. And I know for a fact that Michael Caine once said "Who the f...kin 'ell is Mike Volpe?"