My mistress' eyes are...............

You may remember that just over a year ago I shared with you a scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and I promised more; here it is.

You'll note that I've stayed with a Shakespeare theme in this staging of a scene from Burgess' book "Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life". Here Will is a wooing Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton. It has been suggested that this relationship bore fruit and Elizabeth was with child when she married Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. I've kept it above the waist as the very last thing I would wish to do is make anyone blush! The title comes from the first line of Sonnet 130 which is complete as "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" - though I know that most of you were already aware of that. I hope my little ensemble have faithfully captured the carnival of language and playfulness of the original book, the passion and joie de vivre with which Burgess paints his Shakespeare.

And now a word about my cast. These chaps are what are now sold as Jelly Babies. Aren't they dreadful? They look like misshapes. The package proclaims that they are "made with natural colours and flavours and contain fruit juice". To which my immediate thought is why? They are still substantially made from sugar, glucose syrup and gelatine - 1% fruit juice isn't sufficient to make them virtuous. The shape has changed and each flavour is different. One has an arm up against the head so the head cannot be eaten without taking an arm - that's simply every shade of wrong. Be assured that my mission to bring you culture will continue but I think we'll be back with the Haribo posse in future.