May Silverstone

May Silverstone is one of the New Burbage Festival's longtime company members, a veteran actress who has weathered decades of seasons, directors and disasters with the same unbothered calm. She watches the latest backstage chaos unfold from the sidelines, more amused than alarmed, having clearly seen it all before.

Marcia Bennett plays her with a dry, unhurried authority that cuts through the company's constant hysteria — she's the still point the younger actors orbit around. The writing uses her sparingly but well, letting a raised eyebrow or a single deadpan line puncture the theatrical self-seriousness everyone else takes for granted.