Production images and casting for The Understudy which opens at the Canal Cafe Theatre next week  have been released. 

This UK premiere production of Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck’s play will run at the theatre from the 21st February until the 11th March.

Full of laugh-out-loud comedy and vivacious satire, The Understudy dissects the backstage friction of a frenzied understudy rehearsal of a long lost Kafka play about to be staged on Broadway. Charged with running the rehearsal, Roxanne finds her professional and personal lives colliding when Harry, a jobbing actor, is cast as understudy to Jake, a mid-level action star yearning for legitimacy.

Casting for the production includes Leonard Sillevis (Cowboy Mouth, Kings Head; King John, The Union Theatre), Emma Taylor (NewsRevue, Canal Café; The Birds, Leicester Square Theatre; The Nanny, Soho Theatre) and Samuel John (A Long Day’s Journey into Night, Bermuda Arts Festival; Dead Funny and Our Walk Through the World, The Old Red Lion).

Director Russell Lucas said: “This is the second time I’ve convinced Canal Café Theatre’s Artistic Director Emma Taylor onto her own stage. Combined with Samuel John’s dexterous skills and the instincts of Leonard Sillevis, The Understudy is going to be lightning in a bottle.”

The Understudy is playing at the Canal Cafe Theatre as part of its America: Past, Present and Future season which will conclude with a brand new commissioned play inspired by Americana.

The Understudy will play at the Canal Cafe Theatre from the 21st February until the 11th March. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://canalcafetheatre.com/event?EventId=55508