It starts tomorrow, suitably in Stratford Upon Avon, with The Merchant of Venice, the first of what will be three Shakespeare plays in just over 24 hours. Merchant is a first-timer for me as is the visit to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, if you discount the press tour I went on late last year.

I've been going to Stratford every year for the past four years with my best friend Jen but it's always been to the Courtyard Theatre as the RST was being rebuilt. Having had the grand tour I got a glimpse of what they might be able to do with the staging which is adding to the excitement and anticipation of this year's trip.

This will be followed by an evening performance of Macbeth. I've only done a theatre double bill  once before and this is certainly going to test the concentration as these are full length Shakespeare plays.

At the moment I'm most excited about Macbeth but that's because I've seen it before, albeit an abridged version, and it's starring Jonathan Slinger who was brilliant playing Richard II for our first Stratford outing. The trailer on the RSC website is a bit dull but I'm not letting that put me off.