Ham Pilgrims.

The Canterbury Tales company spent the afternoon in Ham House finalising our plans for our show on May 21st. They put together a presentation for Gary and customer services manager Gabe, and went through in some detail the running of the day.

It's a highly ambitious event. We'll begin at 11am with some performances by local school children on Ham village green before heading off on a pilgrimage to perform at hourly intervals The Friar's Tale at The Royal Oak, The Reeve's Tale at The Brewery Tap, The Merchant's Tale at The Hand and Flower and The Nun's Priest's Tale at The New Inn. From there we'll head down the avenue to arrive at the back gates of the house and begin the show itself in The Wilderness at 5.30pm.

There are some problems with logistics. We're hoping to have a large audience and at present we don't have enough stewards. Catering is also an issue. Gary wants to bring in a hog roast, which we think is a great idea, but do we stop the show to enable the audience to buy or only open afterwards?

In the main though things are on track. We walked the show, ending up in the cherry garden for the final benediction - a chance for us to sing outdoors for the first time - a bit of a release that for all the obstacles still to overcome offered a glimpse of the potential beauty of the work. It could be very special day.
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