The first member of the company to wake on Sunday was William Smith. He consulted his watch, dragged on his clothes, gave a lick to his face and let himself out by the front door. Every Sunday at the end of their little lane on a flight of steps in a major traffic road, a newsman set up his wares. He trustfully left his customers to put the right amount in a tin, helping themselves to change when required. He kept an eye on them from the ‘Kaff on the Korner’.

William had provided himself with the exact sum. Mr Barnes, he recollected, had said something about the ‘Quality’ papers being the ones that mattered. He purchased the most expensive and turned to the headlines.

‘AT LAST! A FLAWLESS MACBETH’

William read it all the way home. It was glorious. At the end it said: ‘The smallest parts have been given the same loving attention. A pat on the head is here awarded to Master William Smith for totally avoiding the Infant Phenomenon.’

William charged upstairs shouting: ‘Mum! Are you awake? Hi, Mum! What’s an Infant Phenomenon? Because I’ve avoided one.’

By midday they had all read the notices and by evening most of them had rung somebody else in the company and they were all delighted but feeling a sort of anticlimactic emptiness. The only thing left to say was: ‘Now we must keep it up, mustn’t we?’

Barrabell went to a meeting of the Red Fellowship. He was asked to report on his tasks. He said the actors had been too much occupied to listen to new ideas but that now they were clearly set for a long run he would embark on stage two and hoped to have more to report at the next meeting. It was a case of making haste slowly. They were all, he said, steeped to their eyebrows in a lot of silly superstitions that had grown up around the play. He had wondered if anything could be made of this circumstance but nothing had emerged other than a highly wrought state of emotional receptivity. The correct treatment would be to attack this unprofitable nonsense.

Shakespeare, he said, was a very confused writer. His bourgeois origins distorted his thought-processes.

Maggie stayed in bed all day and Nanny answered the telephone.

Sir Dougal lunched at the Garrick Club and soaked up congratulations without showing too blatantly his intense gratification.

Simon Morten rang Maggie and got Nanny.

King Duncan spent the afternoon cutting out notices and pasting them in his fourth book.

Nina Gaythorne got out all her remedies and good luck objects and kissed them. This took some time as she lost count and had to begin all over again.

Malcolm and Donalbain got blamelessly drunk.

The speaking thanes and the witches all dined with Ross and his wife, bringing their own bottles, and talked shop.

The Doctor and the Gentlewoman were rung up by their friends and were touchingly excited.