Act Two

FLETCHER INVESTIGATES

Although Act Two proved deceptively simple, in that I could accomplish the performance within walking distance of my residence, it struck me initially as fiendishly complicated, and I spent a couple of highly involved hours researching the details of this upcoming challenge. The answer, of course, lay in the dramaturge's careful and considered use of words, which eventually led me through teeming rain to the hallowed portal of the Hartley Library. Here, I was able to use my academic identification to persuade my way past security, and then it was in the lift up to the fifth floor where, amid silent and deserted racks, I searched for what I believed was the Library of Congress designation PR2509.W5. I was delighted not only to find the appropriate shelf, but also to discover that it was on one of these track systems which mean that they have to wheeled apart. Having done that, I arrived in

front of the desired tome - A Critical Edition of John Fletcher's The Wild Goose Chase - at 19.36 on Saturday 11th July 2009, there to garner an eagerly awaited and most exciting reward. It seems, then, that Act Three is to take place in fair London Town, an experience which I keenly anticipate. So pleased was I with my evening's performance that I decided to treat myself with a post-performance libation in a local hostelry - a large and fragrant Laphraoig which completed an excellent undertaking.