The Understudy

by Theresa Rebeck

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Title: The Understudy
Author: Rebeck, Theresa
Publisher: Dramatist's Play Service
Publication Date: 2010/12/31
Number of Pages: 52
Binding Type: PAPERBACK
Library of Congress:

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama

52 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2010

About the author

Theresa Rebeck is a playwright. She also works as a television writer. Her input went into popular shows such as Dream On, Brooklyn Bridge, L.A. Law, American Dreamer, Maximum Bob, First Wave, and Third Watch.
She also wrote and produced Canterbury’s Law, Smith, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NYPD Blue.
Ms. Rebeck has an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD. in Victorian Melodrama, from Brandeis University. She is a board member of the Dramatists Guild and has taught at Brandeis and Columbia Universities.
She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and two children, Cooper and Cleo.

Reviews

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good play about the rehearsal process and some of the back ground doings when it comes to a play.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak tea. Theresa Rebeck has skill, so the dialogue moves along nicely. And yet. There’s nothing even remotely realistic in this play’s portrayal of either the mechanics of theater production or the inner life of its practitioners. My most charitable assessment is that this play was written as pure dalliance; a product meant to divert audiences in communities with little or no interest in professional artistry. It’s piffle.

[Lily the Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play was funny, but it lacked the emotional depth that other plays can achieve with less on-page character interaction and less dialogue. The excerpts from the play within the play dragged on, and the play's theme of the arbitrary nature of showbusiness managed to be nonexistent at the beginning and way too heavy-handed during the play's conclusion.

Reading this after reading Stephen Adly Guirgis' Jesus Hopped the A Train was a letdown, to say the least. I will always be a Stephen Adly girl, what can I say? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a curious play that wants to be a lot of different things--showbiz parody. theatrical farce, romantic comedy, and Kafka-esque fable--all at once. It ultimately won me over with it's sweet and melancholy final moments, but it is probaly too much of a theatrical hippogriph to ever really work.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written kind of odd play.

[Landon Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big money Bruce and One take Jake.

Didn’t feel much while reading or once I finished, great dialogue though.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t like that it was all one continuous thing and the addition of the extra tech person in the booth was kinda odd but like idk I like Theresa rebeck but not my fav

[Lia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now whose gonna tell Laura’s story

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'll admit...I haven't actually read the script. But I saw the play produced at Otterbein University and it was AMAZING. It was so incredible! Maybe the writing quality isn't great, but it produces a great show in the end.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this play. A little weak in writing and plot in the middle of the play, but overall a great story.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely amusing and self-aware, which I like but it's not super memorable for me.