THE UNDERSTUDY
July 10 - 18 (11 PERFORMANCES ONLY!)
A WICKEDLY FUNNY, FAST-PACED COMEDY
Written & Directed By Theresa Rebeck
ABOUT THE PLAY
Break a leg… or someone else’s.
Down-on-his-luck actor Harry finally catches a break: he’s cast as the understudy in a long-lost Kafka play playing to sold-out Broadway crowds. But when the show’s swaggering Hollywood star, Jake, sweeps into rehearsal, the stage becomes a battlefield of ego, ambition, and insecurity of truly Kafkaesque proportions.
Caught in the crossfire is the razor-sharp stage manager—with a complicated history with both men—desperately trying to keep the production (and her sanity) from imploding before opening night.
Theresa Rebeck’s THE UNDERSTUDY is a wickedly funny, fast-paced backstage comedy about ambition, jealousy, second chances, and the fragile line between art and ego. Smart, biting, and unexpectedly moving, it’s a love letter to the theater—and a no-holds-barred look at what happens when the spotlight isn’t big enough for everyone.
“Rebeck’s sharply written script gets the comedy right, especially where it concerns the Kafkaesque play, and cannily captures the carping so common among competing actors.”
“There’s much that the playwright gets right with her comic premise, including the imagined sections of Kafka’s “play,” which are a perfect imitation of the writer’s style, and her depiction of the professional rivalries endemic to the acting profession.”
SCHEDULE
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FRIDAY, JULY 10th - 7:30 PM (PREVIEW)
SATURDAY, JULY 11th - 7:30 PM (OPENING NIGHT)
SUNDAY, JULY 12th - 2:00 PM
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 15 - 2:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15 - 7:30 PM
THURSDAY, JULY 16 - 7:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 17 - 2:00 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 17 - 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 18 - 2:00 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 18 - 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, JULY 19 - 2:00 PM (CLOSING)
MEET THE CAST
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ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
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Theresa Rebeck is a widely produced writer for stage, film, television, and novels, and the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. The two-time Emmy-nominated writer, and the Festival’s resident playwright, returns to direct this season on the heels of receiving critical acclaim for the New York productions of two of her own plays which were developed at Dorset Theatre Festival. Dig, which had its World Premiere in Dorset’s 2019 season, debuted Off-Broadway at Primary Stages this past August, and I Need That ran on Broadway this past December at the Roundabout Theatre Company and starred Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Danny DeVito.
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Joe Gery has worked extensively in theater with Caparelliotis Casting since 2014, as well as with Meredith Tucker Casting in film & television. His most recent theater credits include the Broadway productions of Good Night and Good Luck, Grey House, Ohio State Murders, Sam Gold's Macbeth, and The Minutes, as well as off-broadway productions at Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard, and Ars Nova. Television credits include all three seasons of The White Lotus (HBO), Godfather of Harlem (EPIX), Ray Donovan (Showtime), and the final season of The Bold Type (Freeform).
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ADVISORY: TBA
RUNTIME: 95 minutes, no intermission
THE UNDERSTUDY is produced by Dorset Theatre Festival.
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Support for the 49th season is provided by Legacy Donors, the Rodgers Family Foundation, The James H. & Irene M. Hunter Charitable Trust, The Shubert Foundation, and the members of the Festival’s World Premiere Circle.
THE UNDERSTUDY is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service. www.concordtheatricals.com
NEWSROOM
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SUPPORT
Donors will help us reach our goal and continue Dorset’s legacy of professional excellence in Southern Vermont.
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