As if to punish my complacency, last night's rehearsal was a terrible shambles.

That's not quite true. The scene featuring several other actors was respectable enough, given that it was the first time off the book.

But the scene - nay, the half scene - featuring only I and one other was a total mess. Somehow the fact that I been over and over the lines at the weekend made no difference to my ability to regurgitate them in the right order when it came to the bit.

However, take heart poor soul (talking eerily to myself here, btw.) I ordered up a finely vintaged garment as a costume item (and I need an abundance of them more's the pity) from ebay and was charmed to find that it is being despatched by someone who inhabits the same location as my prospective office in The Play.

As regular and longstanding readers of this blog will know, my hunger for signs has waned somewhat in recent years. But this, surely, is some sort of sign. I choose to take it as a sign of comfort and reassurance. All will yet be well. Won't it?