January 22nd, 2012

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07:45AM: Doors slide open to a terrace revealing a calm and slightly overcast tropical island setting: palm trees sway gently on the fringes of a 20-metre well-kept lawn between a ground floor balcony and the invitingly warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. “Life’s good,” I say to myself. “I’m lucky.” I know I am.

A new year has begun. Time to reassess. What can I do better than last year? Be a better husband and father. Seems like a good place to start. Don’t take things for granted – guilty as charged on that score. I’m not talking about suddenly becoming a saint, but time is ticking, the world is changing, I’m getting older, my children are getting taller and stronger, and I wonder what they’ll end up doing with their lives. Something they enjoy and hopefully something creative, I allow myself to ponder.

Precious cargo. As I said, IÂ’m lucky. I know I am.

My next production will be a patchwork-quilt of some of the greatest love poetry ever penned by that wizard called William Shakespeare: ‘Shakespeare Unplugged’.

I think he would approve of our efforts of focusing on love and the notion of holiday, of getting away from it all, and slowing down to enjoy the now-ness of life.

I wonder what he would have made of this tropical paradise on the border between Thailand and Cambodia? (Koh Chang for interested parties.) Would he see the queue at the toast-machine here at the hotel as a sign of our expanding Western waistlineÂ’s addiction to white bread?

What would he make of the many middle-aged, balding and, more often than not, obese white men walking hand-in-hand with beautiful and much younger Asian women? Would he see the ‘love’ of such liaisons or would he be cynical and wonder how much poverty plays its part?

He would have, IÂ’m fairly sure, feasted his eye on the treats provided by the local nature, the forest landscape, and the food, and he would have liked the Thai people as much as yours truly, dear reader. The term service with a smile springs to my mind as does their obvious adoration of babies and respect for the elderly.

Going for a quick dip before breakfast accompanied by birdsong. My family is still in the land of nod. There was once this hairy Scotsman who met this beautiful young Danish woman. They fell in love and had two lovely and healthy lads. They are all enjoying themselves on this tropical island paradise on the other side of the world. I wonder what the day will bring? Life eh? ItÂ’s a kind of magic …

‘Shakespeare Unplugged’ stars Ian Burns, Adam Brix and Andrew Jeffers, and is directed by Barry McKenna. It will run from February 22 until March 24 at Krudttønden theatre in Østerbro. Tickets are available from www.billetten.dk or 7020 2096. Learn more at www.that-theatre.com.