The cast and crew of Twelfth Night.

Showing our work to the first audience to see it felt like the end of a very long journey which has been over a year in the making for Josie and me. It was incredibly valuable to get a live audience reaction, and although I'm sure the cast and crew were tired after a long week of technical rehearsals, they delivered a very strong performance. We left the theatre for a much needed day off feeling pleased with where we are, although there is still a huge amount of work to be done.

There is very little to finish now on the set. I'm really pleased with how its looking; the water is a beautiful shade of blue thanks to the careful and constant attentions of our production manager and stage crew (who are all fully equipped with swimming trunks and goggles), and all the finishing touches to the set can be completed while the acting company have the day off.

While we are previewing the show each evening we rehearse as much as possible during the day in order to hone certain moments, make alterations to the action of some scenes and run sections to help the actors feel more familiar with them. As we improve segments of the show, new props are needed at short notice, finishing touches are made to costumes and we continue trying out different outfits for Sir Andrew Aguecheek's swimming attire! It's great to have this period where we are able to test our ideas against an audience each night, and at the end of every show the whole team meets to discuss our notes and thoughts from the show and decide on the work that needs to be done the next day. Very subtle alterations can make a huge difference to how a scene is received, and this time is for rigorous, detailed work that will hopefully pay off with the audience. We are also fine-tuning everything backstage which is sometimes as finely choreographed as what is happening onstage, as dressers run to deal with dripping wet actors, get them warm, dry and back onstage sometimes within minutes.

Our opening performance took place amidst a blizzard of snow outside, which seemed an appropriate way to end our stay in Chicago! It was wonderful to finally get the chance to thank everyone involved with the show, share a drink with the cast and crew, and hear the thoughts of our audience. I was really pleased that my Mum, Dad and sister were able to make it over from the UK, and it was lovely to see them after nearly two months away.

My flight home comes too quickly; my time in Chicago has been an absolutely extraordinary experience.

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