Karen Koren: Barbados or a boot camp?

I HAD a productive time in London. Caught up with some old friends. Had dinner with Bill and Kris Bailey with his son Dax and the menagerie that is their house.

They now have five dogs, four cockatoos, two Balinese peacocks, two monkeys, lots of big goldfish and copious other strange and ridiculous creatures.

Bill is about to go out on another tour, he hardly ever has time to take things easy. I would have thought all his pets might stop him relaxing, but the family thrive on the noisy house.

I’m going to the South of France this weekend and looking forward to some me time to contemplate, write, read, relax and just chill. I need this time away because the weekend after I’m off to a boot camp.

Obviously I don’t really want to go and just as I was trying to find an excuse not to embark upon a weekend of suffering and starvation, along comes an invitation to Barbados.

Run by the Kidd family, Johnny and Wendy Kidd and model daughters Jemma and Jodie, the Holders Festival has been going for 20 years.

They have just invited our production of Casablanca The Gin Joint Cut to perform there at very short notice, which is a nightmare because it’s a difficult show to stage without three technical people who know what they are doing.

They certainly don’t require me to be there, though, if they insist, how can I refuse. I mean, Boot Camp or Barbados?

Hmm... what to do?