I'm not really marathon man - though I do have a Flora London Marathon fleece that I stole from DVGD. I just feel that way 'cos I've had a twelve hour day at school - the usual teaching followed by parents' evening (smile, smile, lie, lie - isn't your offspring clever?), and now I'm about to stay up all night watching the American elections in the hope that the incumbent gets stuffed back up his tree.

So, anyway, I want "Nothing" to be a play about civilisations and cultures, and the way they communicate with each other, and I want this to be embodied in the conflict between the Iraqi (who, for some reason, I want to call Cal - very unArabic) and the dominant girl in the theatre group. This will, at least in theory, mirror the Beatrice/Benedick conflict in "Much Ado".

I've picked "Much Ado" as the play they're made to perform for more reasons than just that, though. For a start, it's a smooth escapist comedy; "Cal" wants the ordinary people of his neighbourhood to get just a taste of the life of the (supposedly) cultured western middle class. Also, "Much Ado" has a dark side, and it's a play all about perceptions and misconceptions.

But I want to stop myself writing another stupid political play. I'm not Tim bleeding Robbins. I'm at my worst when I start banging a drum, so as far as possible I'm going to keep nitty-gritty politics out of the whole thing - that would kill the comedy.

OK, beer time. More thoughts tomorrow.