I don't know how it is now but the assistant stage manager had to understudy several parts. You had to be ready to go on at any time if the actor couldn't make it to the play. I didn't think anything of it.
“When I left school I went to Australia for a year and worked in the drama department of a school in Perth.”
“If monarchy is corrupting - and it is - wait till you see what overt empire does to us.”