Actors gamely take on ‘Utopia’

NEW YORK — David Harbour is one lucky actor. In the prestigious “The Coast of Utopia” trilogy, he landed more than one role — he has three.

The only snag: None lasts very long.

In the first play, Mr. Harbour has just a few scenes as philosopher Nicholas Stankevich, doomed to die young. In the second, as German poet George Herwegh, he slinks away long before the end. In the third, Mr. Harbour has only one small scene.

That means a lot of hours backstage.

What does he do to pass the time?

“There’s a pretty healthy poker game,” he says with a smile.

“Oh, very extensive,” agrees Richard Easton, another cast member who has three parts in Tom Stoppard’s sweeping look at 19th-century Russian intellectuals.

It turns out that virtually anytime backstage at Lincoln Center, a hard-core group of five or six card sharks, some still in costume, have settled down into plastic seats in a kitchen to try to relieve the others of their cash.

Mr. Harbour and Billy Crudup are two regulars. “He owes me a lot of money,” Mr. Harbour says of his co-star. Mr. Easton, so far, has kept his distance. “We’re trying to get him involved, but he’s very cautious with his money,” Mr. Harbour says.

Poker and Pushkin: Welcome to repertory theater on Broadway, Stoppard-style.

The card games are just one way the 41 actors and army of crew members whittle away their downtime during one of the city’s biggest theatrical productions in recent history.

The trilogy, which spans 35 years and logs in at about nine total stage hours, contains more than 70 roles. It has required a nine-month commitment from some very sought-after actors, including Mr. Crudup, Martha Plimpton, John Hamilton, Amy Irving and Ethan Hawke.

Because all three plays — “Voyage,” “Shipwreck” and “Salvage” — are in constant rotation, rehearsal and tech periods often run from noon to 5 p.m., and then everyone must return to perform three hours later.

“It’s like being on an offshore oil rig with my family stationed on a boat two leagues away and I have a rowboat to get to them,” says Jennifer Ehle, a new mother who also has three roles.

It promises to get even tougher when the cast and crew undertake all three plays in back-to-back-to-back marathons tonight and on March 3, 10, 24 and 31; April 7, 21 and 28; and May 5.

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