Yesterday we had enormous fun rehearsing the final scene of Figaro, set in Almaviva's palace garden at night. Of course it's one of the most confusing scenes in opera, as Susanna and the Countess swap clothes, tricking their husbands into imagined infidelities and jealousies. With twinkling lanterns, secret hiding places "by the shade of the cypress bowers", and the added complications caused by Cherubino and Cecchina (a.k.a. Barbarina), Bartolo and Marcellina, and a very voyeuristic Basilio, the scene is set for an ever-changing fantasy of growing complexity before the eventual moving reconciliation between the noble couple. Rehearsing in a London drama studio using sundry chairs as scenery is a somewhat different experience from how it will eventually feel on our open-air Bampton stage, but our wonderful cast is used to being adept and all will soon fall into place. The picture shows one of the draft designs for the garden scene, which we trust at Bampton will be matched by the beautiful warm evenings we're enjoying at the moment.