Rehearsal And A Problem

I arrived at Surflight early because I had a carful of things to bring.  Rehearsal was called for 6:00, but I got there about 4:00.  Stacey was already there; it seems she was hired to clean.  I was pleased to see Casey B., who is the ticket taker.  I showed her some of the pictures and other props I had brought at her request and she selected two oval, framed needlepoints, a photo of my grandmother at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, and twenty cloth napkins.
After that, I took my tape recorder and tried to block out some of my moves onstage.  Wore my first-act costume, with which I'm wearing low boots.  They look good, but unfortunately, after several hours, hurt my feet.  The others drifted in slowly and finally, about 7:30, rehearsal started.
Again, it was a shambles.  My "sister" became agitated and started to  hypervenilate and wipe her foreheard--rather theatrically--with her hand.  However, she settled down and did all right later.
Neil is still referring to his script--good grief, he should have been off-book last week--and the four "policemen" and other minor players were pretty bad.  Guess I should be feeling desparate by this time, but I'm not.  This is the first time we even rehearsed act 3 on-stage and it's entirely different from simply reading and memorizing a script.  I think it's a wake-up call to be ready.
However, there's a major problem and it's this: "Abby" and I have to exit upstairs to what's supposed to be the second floor.  It really ends in a small platform, six feet high.  In order to get down from there, you have to fit in a very narrow space, then negotiate three foot-high "steps," that are really boxes bolted down in some way.  If I had the regal height of my friend, Pat R., I might be fine with that, but I'm 5'3" and am scared to death I'll break a bone in trying to get down and even up.
Why not just stay on the platform?  Because we have to change to mourning clothes that include several (in my case, four) layers of heavy, black material, then change back again to another costume, different from the ones we wore going up.  I don't see how it's possible for both of us to be there and do that in the space of a rather small closet.  Oh, yes, it's also dark, lit only by a "blue light," which makes it hard to see anything smaller than a purse, say.   It seems to me we have to be able to get to the dressing room backstage, so have to be able to get down from the platform.  Talked to Bruce, who's doing some of the set (he also has two small parts as Dr. Harper and Mr. Gibbs), and he promised to try to remedy the problem.  If he can't, I'm just at a loss.