Charged with running the understudy rehearsal for a Broadway production of a recently-discovered Kafka play, Roxanne finds her professional and personal life colliding. Harry, a struggling actor (and her ex-fiancé) has been cast as the understudy to Jake, a mid-tier action movie star yearning for legitimacy. Harry and Jake grapple to either eliminate each other or find common ground. Roxanne struggles to maintain control of the rehearsal, despite a stoned tech assistant (or is she actually malevolent?) and her own careening feelings about both actors and her past.
Will order be found? Will the show go on? The Understudy is a deliriously funny look at conscientious people trying to do what they love in the face of absurdly escalating obstacles — until all anyone can do is dance.
You have no rights! You’re an actor! You’re not even an actor, you’re an understudy!— Roxanne
