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The Understudy
by Theresa Rebeck

Director:  Branden Smith
Scenic Design:  Branden Smith
Lighting Design:  Riley Goossen
Sound Design:  Erik Siegling

Featuring: Phillip Shinn, Harrison Farmer, Hanna Uselding

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Performed March 2023 at the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre

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The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck is a beautiful and tragic comedy about the challenges of making theatre. Over the course of one understudy rehearsal, we get the chance to delve into the psyche of a struggling actor, a stage manager and a "successful" movie star yearning for legitimacy. We experience the play and their rehearsal in real-time, and we watch as their relationships blossom.

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I picked this show because because it covers heavy existential and absurdist themes while still being wickedly funny and playful. The show features a number of "play within a play" breaks where we get to enjoy their reality as well as the show that they are rehearsing; "Franz Kafka's recently discovered lost masterpiece" to be exact!

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I asked the cast to dig into Franz Kafka's stories with me, and I aimed to incorporate the visual styles of the German Expressionist movement.  By incorporating sharp angles, deep shadows and harsh contrast visually, we are set up for the drama of "Kafka's play." Meanwhile, the lives of the actors in the story become evermore frustrating and Kafka-esque. ​

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Video filmed by: Curtis Devore

Edited by: Branden Smith

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"Franz Kafka's undiscovered masterpiece in its Broadway premiere is the hilarious and apropos setting for Theresa Rebeck's exploration of the existential vagaries of show business and life. Charged with running the understudy rehearsal for the production, Roxanne finds her professional and personal life colliding when Harry, a journeyman actor and her ex-fiancé, is cast as the understudy to Jake, a mid-tier action star yearning for legitimacy. As Harry and Jake find their common ground, Roxanne tries to navigate the rehearsal with a stoned lightboard operator, an omnipresent intercom system, the producers threatening to shutter the show and her own careening feelings about both actors and her past. Will the show go on? THE UNDERSTUDY is a dazzling and humanistic look at people trying to do what they love in the face of obstacles that mount until all anyone can do is dance." https://www.theresarebeck.com/the-understudy

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