Well here’s the question: Who am I and why am I writing a blog for you to read? That is a good question. Well, the short answer is… The understudy. But what is an understudy and why is his role important? In the dictionary, understudy has the following: “a performer who learns the role of another in order to serve as a replacement if necessary”. The show must go on. It’s the message of the playwright, the director and the theatre to the world and it must be heard. Our role is to fill in. “That’s your role [Mike]. To fill my silence.” I need to “understand the roles we have to play.” We cannot “just watch safely from our seats.” We need to be ready for anything.

Understudies… Who needs them anyway?

The reality is that the understudy is generally hired by a company that doesn’t want him/her to have to appear onstage during the run. It’s not a job that’s meant to be used. But in the nature of living, life happens. There is no perfect vision of the future. We can plan all we want and still find ourselves far from what we’ve planned. We want to enjoy the run safely from our seats but we are to be ready when that plan goes awry. Therefore the understudy learns the role and needs to be ready to perform the role during any and all performances in the run of the show. Yet the problem is that I will only be needed if something happens to one of the cast. We don’t want that to happen. But in the case that it does, I am the person giving the message of an absent person. Let’s hope I deliver it well.

I think that the most important job for me to do, as understudy in this show, is to make sure that the play goes on and that I do it the way the director intended. Not only is this a daunting task, it’s also a task that has little to no direct application to the understudy from the director. The understudy has to watch quietly and take notes about what the director wants from each scene and also how the actors are using that to motivate their movements. I’m a fly on a wall during rehearsals. I am not needed in rehearsals and yet I go to rehearsals. Why go? The reason is simple… It’s the best way to find out what the director is trying to communicate to the audience. After the show opens the director does not stick around to direct the understudies. The only way the understudy can rehearse the show is by watching the show as much as needed till he/she feels the show is ingrained in them. And now that rehearsals are over the words of the play need to be present and retrievable at a moments notice. Therefore I make sure that I see the show at least once a week, more if I find it necessary. If I go on, the idea is that the audience wouldn’t know that I’m the understudy but would be involved in the show.

Understudying the roles of these amazing actors is a job in itself. Not only do understudies need to learn the roles assigned to them and the blocking involved, they have only one rehearsal where it is put on its feet. This is generally not the actors favorite rehearsal due to the fact that it is after the opening and its running over blocking and lines that they’ve done many more times than I have on that stage. My one looks smaller and smaller with every performance of the show. It’s fine to stay at one but I’m here when they need me.

To understand what it’s like to understudy, here’s an analogy I just thought of: Understudying is like being a woodcutter, sharpening your axes day after day only to put it in a closet after its sharpened. It’s not needed. Someday the axe may be needed. so as long as it’s sharp, the axe is ready. I need to sharpen my lines as understudy. Never let them become dulled with neglect or time. In reality, the public won’t likely see my work.

Understudies don’t think, “You just wait till you really see the show. That’s when I’m playing every role! Bwa ha ha.” That would not be a show I’d find intriguing. There’s a wonderful idea that I have: I want the actors to be healthy and never miss a performance. Understudying isn’t easy. I don’t think we can ever understand the full nature of being an understudy till we do it. As much as I love acting I fear the job I have as understudy. I have this nightmare where I have to go on in ten minutes for one character but the lines of the other characters are the only ones I can remember. (I’m understudying 3 roles).

In reality the role of understudy isn’t a small task. It’s a task that in a way encompasses the idea of the story of Antigone. The play relays a message of anticensorship. Too many people are silenced in this world. Speaking up is underestimated. But who does that? Or better yet who criticizes that? Speaking up is needed. “We have an obligation to speak up”. People need to voice their opinions more often than they do. We are a complacent society. The words need to be said. We cannot be quiet forever. The play must be seen and performed and, in the theatre, to alleviate that danger understudies learn the roles and are ready to perform when needed. It’s good to never cancel a show. The story has infinite possibilities if studied well.

This play rips me apart but I love it. I feel like it has made me consider my own unvoiced moments in life. Where can I improve in filling the silence? “What good is living if we all end up like you?” “What else can I do?” Am I just following the crowd without a thought of my own? … Those are some of the questions this play has made me consider but there are more to be found. This is a story chosen by the Salt Lake Acting Company to perform, therefore the message must be something they think the community needs to know or discover. We all have a voice but rarely do we find the time to let it be heard.

“Law is flawed but without it we’re lost” (adding to the line) but unless we voice the flaws that we find in law how can we ever expect change?

This is all too deep for me so I will just have to say: SEE THE SHOW!