This article must be in preparation for your role in DUTCH A/V at this year's Under The Radar Festival at New York's Public Theater, no?
http://www.undertheradarfestival.com/ind…

I'm glad many theatre companies in town are smart and try to multi-task actors with several small roles. The LORT's would be wise to do the same, especially in this age of dwindling financial support for theatre.

Having had a few small roles with long breaks between scenes myself, I got myself used to staying focused on listening intently to the on-stage action, even if hearing those lines for the 100th time. Even if there's something more interesting to do backstage like read a book, I just got too nervous about missing my cue if I let my attention stray.

I've never performed a small role so I wouldn't know the first thing about it ;)

I was playing in a production of "Night Must Fall", a stodgy character who spent a large amount of the play on stage reading a newspaper. On more than one occasion I found I was totally absorbed in an article on piracy in the Malay Archipelago, and not listening to the action on stage at all. Dangerous, but by the end of the season, I had finished the whole newspaper.

I was playing in a production of Emlyn Williams' "Night Must Fall" - a stodgy character with a small role, but who still spend an enormous amount of time on stage, reading a newspaper. On more than one occasion, I found myself totally absorbed in a long article on piracy in the Malay Archipelago, and not listening to the action at all. Dangerous, but by the end of the season, I had finished the entire newspaper.

I've done smaller roles in school theatre (I'm a young'un), and we mostly passed our time stealing people's hats and eating sugar cubes off the tea tray.

By the way, a "sloppy Olivier" is a real thing...just looked.

I learned almost all the dumb blonde jokes I now know backstage with a dozen other blondes when I was in elementary school. I was the youngest person in the cast, I think. It was my first play, and it was at a community theatre. Oh, what fond memories...

For the record, I learned over a hundred blonde jokes there. I still enjoy them to this day, even though it's been more than a decade. I still remember the moment when I spoke up to point out that, behind all of our wigs and masks, every one of us was blonde... First time I made all of them laugh.

Thank you for bringing up this memory.