First

It's not an April Fool: I've started a blog. If this were television news, I'd start by saying "You join us..." So:

You join us in Nottingham: the 10th venue (of 31), the 106th show (at time of writing), the second season, the sixth month of the job.

Right now, all I can hear over the Tannoy is the sound of an audience. It sounds large and comprised mostly of children. These are common factors that would be easy to take for granted; but (a) it's exciting to be in a show that's such a success - we seldom play to audiences of less than 1000 - and (b) it's wonderful to be doing this show to so many children (11+ is the recommended age). In a time where reality television has such a stronghold over that generation, it feels important to be doing something that's so defiantly theatrical; perhaps to children that haven't seen a great deal of theatre. All that's really required to enjoy this play is an imagination and an open mind: even if that mind isn't quite as extraordinary as that of Christopher Boone, the play's protagonist.

Before this tour began, I marked the places that we'll be visiting on a map, mainly for the benefit of my son at home. I hope that readers of this blog might stick with it and follow us around, from little red dot to little red dot.