There are times when only microchips will do

And getting in from a 2 1/2 hour Shakespeare Masterclass having had only a toasted cheese sandwich for tea, over 6 hours earlier, is one of them. No chip pan in our house, you see, so we either nuke them or we don't have them. Oven chips just aren't the same - it has to be microchips, from the microwave, in that little box giving off a wiff of singed cardboard as you burn your fingers on the chips. Ah, heaven.

Masterclass was good - run by Ellie Jones, Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres and based around As You Like It, which is the next play in the Crucible. There were about a dozen people there, some of whom were much more willing to push themselves into the limelight than others. I hadn't expected it to be quite so interactive and performance based, and not being a natural performer, that was a bit alarming. We concentrated on two scenes, one prose, one verse, and did lots of exercises about reading the text, and how different ways of reading and/or moving altered the meaning of the scene. It was really useful in terms of understanding the acting process (which is why I'd gone in the first place) and also understanding the director's decision making process. I'm going to a study day called "Devise a Play in a Day" next month which will probably be even scarier in terms of performance requirements, but I keep hearing that writers should do acting classes in order to understand the acting process, which is why I'm doing it, so I'm sure it will be a good learning experience. I have absolutely no desire to act, I'm useless at it anyway, and I hate being the centre of attention, so it could also be a bit of a trial.

Despite not wanting to be the centre of attention, I'm doing a workshop on "Writing Romantic Comedy" next month for Yorkshire Art Circus. We're a little light on potential attenders at the moment, so if you fancy it, or know someone who might, please get in touch with Lesley at YAC