Monday was August 1 - time for me to bid farewell to the July page of Highbury Little Theatre's ever-so-tasteful calendar, in which every month recalls a bygone production of the Sutton Coldfield group by means of a photograph showing a reenactment in the altogether.
In the first six months of the year, I was regaled with Hamlet, Lark Rise, Hobson's Choice, Pygmalion, The Orchestra and Outside Edge - this last, featuring the most strategically-played defensive stroke in cricketing history.
But it is July that I shall really miss, now that the time has come to turn the page again.
For 31 days, July has hung above my desk in a crazy recollection of A Passionate Woman, showing a rooftop scene in which the lady of the house perches on the ridge-bar, holding the right hand of a young man lying on his back in mortal peril of sliding down the slates while his left hand clings desperately to an open skylight.
The young man's attire is limited to a stylish grey cravat that nearly reaches down to his naval without doing anything to cover his requirements. Fortunately, his needs are met by recourse to a grey top hat, helpfully held in position by Highbury veteran Reg Tolley - similarly short of clothing - who has popped up through the skylight, fortunately not too far, at the critical moment.
The special joy of the picture is the Tolley face. It's a study in shock, sandwiched between his own cravat and top hat - an open- mouthed, oneraisedeyebrow, boggle-eyed reaction to a moment of galloping absurdity.
It's delighted me for a month and I'm going to miss it.
