if it really is lights up and lights out, then have the director
fade them in and our herself. Then you can go do something more productive and useful for your time. You can
preset all the light faders and all she has to touch is the grand master.
Working with my director, I've found out that often its better to just try things or do things than to ask her opinion. If she likes what I've done, good, if not, then I'll change it, but if I ask, often times she'll tell me to not bother, but when I do it anyways, she really likes it. Little things, like, I brought in a window box and some fake flowers to put behind a window. I didn't ask her, but she loved the added touch! She told me to not worry about a toilet, but a techie had one lying around, so he brough it in and we ended up keeping it in there (it was a scene with a bathroom). I've worked with her alot though, so I know some things just wouldn't work, and some things will.
But yeah, for kicks and giggles, memorize the entire script and mouth every
line. You could do homework. You could work on other shows if you can, like, you could clean out or reorganize things because they are messy. Vacuum the carpet or mop the floor.
House cleaning type stuff to make the
venue look better. most of that only works during rehearsal though....