Boxing Day is homemade sausage roll day. Look on my works, ye mighty, and eat sausage rolls.

Today in the northern hemisphere the darkest week of the year is over. (Count: solstice was the 21st. The darkest week is that plus the three days either side.) So that’s something to enjoy. We’ve done the very darkest bit.

Wicked: For Good was all the excellence I was expecting and all the feels. What I hadn’t banked on is laughing the hardest I’ve laughed all year and for that I am immensely grateful. My sister and I were in STITCHES at Fiyero’s burlap face. Absolutely dying. 10/10.

Good news for fitness and running nerds. Zombies, Run! has been bought back by co-creator and author @naomialderman.bsky.social. "Zombies, Run! has been a community effort since the first Kickstarter, and we’ll keep it shambling on together," she tells The Verge. www.theverge.com/gadgets/8275...

To receive updates about the new era of Zombies, Run! click zombiesrungame.com Naomi says: “The Zombies, Run! community is the most wonderful any writer could hope for as a home for her work. Stay safe out there, Runners, Five. We need you.”

Some good news for a Monday morning…

The Wind in the Willows: a Weasel’s Tale is now available for streaming on the BBC Sounds app:

My radio play, a variation on The Wind in the Willows, is a Pick of the Week in the current edition of @radiotimes.bsky.social. Listen at 3pm Sunday on BBC Radio 4.

Happy Halloween from Gavin

My new radio play, ‘The Wind in the Willows: a Weasel’s Tale’ - narrated by the legend that is Penelope Wilton, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 3pm on 16th November. Details here:

I have had a lovely time playing with actors this past couple weeks: last week running the @newearththeatre.bsky.social Liverpool Theatre Makers Academy and this week workshopping a beautiful and heartbreaking new play with @tommortonsmith.com. It’s been great & I’d like to do more of it soon please

I joined a puppetry playtime workshop this evening and 10/10 would recommend as a balm for the soul. Feeling restored and entirely put back together. I love puppets.

My cat is cute, but also filthy (he will NOT let me give him a bath).

What does this even mean? Yakisoba? Extremely questionable, Pringles.

A sign our holiday is over.

This is why you should wear shin pads for kickboxing. Am off on holiday tomorrow and these bruises are gonna look GREAT on the beach 👙

Hey folks - posting for a colleague, they're looking for Kenyan voice actors of any gender with access to a good remote recording setup. It's a paid role - if you're interested, please comment and I'll pass on your info (if you don't fit the brief, signal boosting is appreciated, thank you!)

I spy Totoros 👀

Ai Ninomiya’s voice never fails to give me goosebumps. Enjoy this footage of her singing the theme song from My Neighbour Totoro at West End Live earlier today.

Recorded some audition tapes this morning, which is something I’ve not done in an absolute age. It was fun and the home studio still sounds good so if anyone needs a little Tan voice for their audio drama/game/something else, HMU.

I am (sadly) one of Sarah Pochin’s constituents and I have absolutely no concerns about the burqa. It is 💯 a non-issue in Runcorn I guarantee it.

Day 6 of nocturnal cough. I am so over it now. Would like some sleep please. (Yes, I am in bed propped upright like a vampire. No, it doesn’t make a jot of difference.)

It’s time for Eurovision!

There are some new murals under the old bridge in Runcorn. I think they’re pretty cool.

I wish I was as comfortable as Gavin.

If Pulp actually played Spike Island on Spike Island I’d be able to hear it from my house.

Am spending a couple of days hanging out with old friends in London and, honestly, it is just the balm my heart needed. Nothing like old pals to bring you back to yourself.

Heartbroken that it’s come to this. Zombies, Run! has been a huge part of my life for over 10 years and the good folks at Six to Start are some of the best people I’ve ever worked with.

Tonight, we are so excited to welcome audiences to the first preview of #MyNeighbourTotoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre! 🏠🌱 If you are joining us, remember not to take photos or videos of Totoro and his friends. Step into their world and #DiscoverItForYourself. ☺️ #FindYourSpirit

I thought my time had come, the tiredness had caught up with me and I finally looked like an adult but I just got IDed in the supermarket. I turn 44 in 3 weeks.

Have a listen to this and consider for a moment what women could be achieving if we weren’t so busy looking after everyone else. Still. In 2025. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It’s still light 😃

I’d like to move to France please.

20 years since I saw this at Soho Theatre 😦 It was a profoundly formative theatre experience and I still think about it often.

My Neighbour Totoro West End Cast Announced. Familiar friends and talented new faces. #totoroshow #theatresky

My bread lame fell out of a cupboard onto my index finger this afternoon giving it a goodly slicing. Ouch. Don’t recommend.

A shout out to let you know that the script submissions window is now open at @mercurytheatre.bsky.social. Details here 👇🏾 www.mercurytheatre.co.uk/taking-part/...

It’s a new year. I hope you get the respite and recovery you need, because I can’t imagine 2025 will be in any way straightforward. Find joy where you can, cherish peace when it finds you, and don’t be a dickhead. 🥳

Reflecting on 2024, it felt like a very welcome mellow one for us as a family. Quite the opposite of interesting times in fact. Quietly I managed to make work I was incredibly proud of. It won’t make any lists or break any ground but if I never get to make a show again, I’ll be happy having made it.

Ending the year with feline paralysis.

Is there such a thing as cakesky? Cos I just decorated the Xmas cake and I’m pretty pleased with it.

Your annual reminder that mincemeat makes a warming and festive addition to your morning porridge. (Especially if you make your own with plenty of brandy and suet 😋)

Also heartbroken to hear about the closing of Coney. So much play and joy over the years after I discovered them down some type of rabbit hole at the BAC 1-2-1 Festival many moons ago. Grateful I got to play those games.

Cats will officially sleep on anything that isn’t a cat bed. Especially circles. Today Gavin is sleeping on a placemat on our kitchen table.