The Understudy

Saw "The Understudy" at the Laura Pels Theater tonight. It was undercooked to say the least.

A theatre-trained understudy has to work with a famous movie action hunk-star to be his understudy. You can feel every creaky bit how he feels about this.

I have to say I find seeing plays that are not terrible, but I don't like, instructional. When I see the bones right there I see what I would do as well. Too obvious, on the nose, oh no you didn't!

There are three characters and one of them at a time steps offstage so the other two can talk about him/her. (15 minutes to take a whizz?! Really? And then you cover by one of the actors making a comment about it so you think we won't find it "devicey"?) And the speakers in the dressing room are always on so that the offstage character can HEAR what the other two are saying about him/her? Shouldn't that only be allowed to be used/happen once?

And the understudy and the stage manager were engaged to be married? Where was CANCER or the long lost relative?

I am being cruel now. But I did look at my watch (if I had one) from beginning to end.