I'm sorry, but if your advert for a 'clothing collection' also features a cute couple of kittens for no discernible reason, is it so unreasonable for me to assume that your plan is to skin some cats? (A quick search reveals that it's clearly not a real charity, incidentally, and they include 'bath and towels' on the list of suggested donations. Not sure that a bath would be the the most sensitive donation imaginable.)

I did have the pleasure of seeing a (bona fide) charitable performance of The Tempest on Saturday night in director Kat's (magnificent) garden. Abi stole the show as Caliban, it must be said, although it was very well done all round and just a pretty cool thing for a bunch of neighbours to put together of their own volition. As always with Shakespeare I find that already being familiar with the play beforehand to some extent really helps to enjoy it. We're going to the Globe to see something new on Thursday, however, so I can test my appreciation of 'new' Shakespeare too.

(I am frequently curious about the original performances of these plays. Were some big hits and others flops? Could that shorten or prolong a run? Did people decide to go to the theatre based on what was on, or did they just turn up and see? If the Elizabethans had tweeted, would @lmason17thC have heard of @williamshakespeare? Or did you have to be local* / rich / local and rich?)

Am now off to see the twenty-first century's @lmason17 - I wish everyone returning home from muddy festivals the very best of bathing!

Promise I'll be kind,
But I won't stop until that dukedom's mine
Mila-milanesi

(*OK, he was local once. Ish.)