I love surprises! And the reaction of the audience in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall was just the sort of surprise I love. When Raymond Gubbay’s organisation asked if we would like to stage our production of Horrible Christmas in concert halls around the country, I was excited but worried. We would be playing under the evening concert, so the only set we could have would be a star cloth and four Christmas trees. Would it work? We had successfully performed a scaled back tour of the show on a lorry in dozens of car parks during Covid, but would an audience in a magnificent concert hall expect more? It appears I needn’t have worried, for if it was good enough for Shakespeare, who never had sets, it seems it's still good enough in 2022! Our magnificent cast of eight actors had an absolute ball in front of a packed auditorium and the audience response was exhilarating. It just goes to show what a group of actors can achieve without any of the paraphernalia we’ve come expect from theatre spectaculars. We’re now heading for a week at the Barbican, which is exciting just because it’s the Barbican, and hope to give our London audiences a horrible treat!