Your first thought is to scout out the situation with a little test. Right now, the actors have just given you general stage signals, to let you know they were in the profession without giving any details away. You haven’t talked to any of them.
So you strike up a quick conversation with an older woman, passing along an idea. She makes a show of laughing and nodding, as though you’re talking regularly.
Then you head back to your waiting spot, and watch the door carefully.
A few minutes later, a man staggers towards the door in a drunken manner. You, of course, recognize this particular method of faking drunkenness. It’s not used often, which makes it more effective at fooling people than the more obvious drunk walks.
“An’ lemme tell you one more thing!” the man shouts, pointing at the door. “Eleanor, she… she never loved you in the first place!”
He then fake-collapses right in front of the door. He’s pretty good at it, for someone who probably hasn’t done a professional performance in years.
No reaction. You notice the other actors getting closer. The woman you were speaking to makesa hand signal, and the “drunk” slowly gets up and starts banging on the door.
“Open up, Collette!” he shouts. “I know you’re in there! You can’t keep me out forever!”
He’s testing how the person inside reacts to a direct approach. It could be dangerous, but you get the impression the other actors are prepared for it. You stand up and ready yourself to jump in if any sort of fight starts.
But what happens next isn’t something you were expecting.