Rubber Room: Separate Dressing Rooms

The actors never see each other until they enter the rubber room.

They dress separately, in different rooms, a brief solitary confinement before each one steps on the stage.

On the elevator, I encounter one of the Patti's. There are no other passengers.

"Good job last night," I say. "Are you enjoying the play?"

She looks down, and then up at me, nervously.

"I've seen them all," I say. "I'm writing about them."

"Oh, I'm so relieved," she said. "I thought you might be one of the other actors. I didn't know if I should talk to you."