First Reading Ok, so it's Sunday afternoon, and I'm in the rehearsal room trying to explain to a group of people why Terry Pratchett is such a good author, why it will be great fun to stage his play, and why on earth the book is centred around a flat world, carried through space on the back of a giant turtle. My potential cast smile at me sympathetically, as I struggle to explain the plot. Four witches, numerous vampires, a queen, an Igor and a dog with two tails later...some of them are still smiling.

Casting I count the number of characters listed in the script. I do some quick mental arithmetic. I count them again. Surely not...It slowly dawns on me that I'm going to have to convince 32 people to act in the play, not to mention the numerous others I need for technical and backstage support. It's time to start ringing people up...

Readthrough Thrilled to find myself with a full cast, I head down to the theatre for what is effectively the first rehearsal. 32 people sounds like a lot on paper, but gather them in one room and I suddenly realise just exactly how many people that is. We read through the script together for the first time, and I laugh in the same places I have been laughing at while reading it on the train to work all these months. But now...other people are laughing with me! What a relief!

Early Rehearsals After three rehearsals, I can see we are going to have a bit of a problem. You see, it's like this...the script is too funny. At every other line the whole room bursts out laughing - either at a joke, someone's funny accent, or because we can't pronounce some of the names. No-one warned me about this. Who said this directing lark was easy?

The Wonder of Modern Technology! With the acting under way, we sit down to make a list of the special effects we will need. 'Mist' is probably the easiest, followed by 'vampire teeth'. The 'loud, bright explosions' shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the glowing anvil might be tricky. Best of all is the seven foot tall grim reaper - complete with glowing eyes...I silently thank Stephen Briggs for not including the 'Nac Mac Feegle' that appear in the book - an army of little blue men is perhaps beyond me...