By Sarah McLean , ABC A slow and painful crawl towards the bathroom in an endless queue is a situation most women would rather avoid. But for theatre entertainer Libby Trainor Parker, it can also mean racing her audience during intermission so she is back on stage in time for the second act. "As a performer, women's bathroom lines can be so hectic that it can delay the performance quite significantly, especially during intermission," Trainor Parker said.
"I have been known to pop into the men's occasionally, if it gets really dire." The Adelaide comedian and cabaret performer is all-too-familiar with the long queues that often snake around the women's bathroom. And she's not alone - with a new analysis finding women are 34 times more likely than men to be queued for bathrooms.
"It is really frustrating. As soon as you see the line, I think everyone goes, 'Ugh, here we go again'," Trainor Parker said. "You just know that you won't be able to get a drink before you have to go back in, or you won't be able to socialise, and you're going to be there for ages.
"[And] you just see the men going in and out very quickly, just like a lovely production line." Having sat on both sides of the curtain, she said long wait times were a nuisance for performers and patrons alike, and admitted that, on one occasion, she "didn't make it". "That was really not good, because I had to go on stage.
I had to then change my entire costume, which then changed up the act a little bit," Trainor Parker s.
