They are rehearsing in an additional understudy. And I sit at the back of the empty stalls and watch the meticulous work until there’s a short “tea break” and Isobel is free to come and chat to me. Her co-director, Simon Harvey, hospitably pops off to find us both some tea.
I ask her first about the new understudy I’ve been watching. “Yes, we’ve always worked with two but under present circumstances we need a third for safety and she’s great – only 22 and straight out of drama school but fearlessly willing to immerse herself. Actually, so far, we have done a hundred shows here and lost only one – because a cast member had a bad reaction to the booster. But we need
