EDGE on the Net

If there’s one thing playwright Theresa Rebeck deserves tremendous credit for it’s her desire to switch genres. The last couple of years have seen her take on Greek Tragedy (The Water’s Edge), shock drama (Our House), and David Mamet cynicism (Mauritius). Now she’s back with a new comedy, The Understudy, at the Laura Pels Theatre, and yet another genre... safe.

Unlike the previous works, The Understudy works entirely on familiar ground. Three characters -- a Broadway-slumming movie star, Jake (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), his understudy, Harry (Justin Kirk), and the stage manager, Roxanne (Julie White) -- spend 90 real-time minutes on a set-within-a-set dishing out the show-business blues.

Lest you get confused by the prop-gun opener, no one ends up shot to death, stabbed to death, or swindling each other in several twist-and-turn endings. Instead, The Understudy serves as a valentine to actors, allowing us a glimpse into the kind of backstage drama that’s been a crowd-pleaser since a chorus line of dancers did it for love.

For Rebeck, safe is not such a bad place to live. While The Understudy never offers anything we haven’t seen before, and in better versions, it’s an enjoyable, predictable romp that seems comfortable in its limited goals.

As our play opens, Harry’s just arrived on the set for an understudy rehearsal of one of those big testosterone-studded star plays -- a steady resemblance to a current hit should be noted. He’ll be replacing Jake if Jake ever needs to replace Bruce, the never-seen even bigger movie star who’s also getting street cred by doing Broadway, and who’s delightfully suggestive of a certain "Die-Hard" star. Jake’s not thrilled that an actor of no movie credentials has been offered the job, and Roxanne’s not thrilled that Harry’s her ex-fiancé who fled town before the wedding.

What follows is more sentiment than sarcasm. No one in theater has it easy, and, like the Kafka play the threesome are rehearsing, more than not they’re disposable, meaningless creatures, who deserve more sympathy than is usually granted.

As directed by Scott Ellis, The Understudy’s pacing is quick and vibrant, with White and Kirk sputtering out lines like bumper cars. Ellis smartly allows White to utilize our theater as her own, pacing up and down the aisles and wandering into the control booth for some miked-in lines. The actress is almost plagued by her wonderful performance in The Little Dog Laughed (also directed by Ellis, also about theater, also a much smarter show); she’s in great form, but she’ll never match that character. You find yourself almost wishing she’d switch gears and take on an entirely different role. I’d also bet the part was written for a much younger actress. (Theater is so vicious, ain’t it?)

Kirk’s sympathetic and engaging, even when he’s looking for laughs that don’t exist. The surprise is Gosselaar, who, on paper, would seem to have the flattest role, but who sweetly balances ego with innocence, and who never tries to oversell his lines or quite striking self. Alexander Dodge’s set design is a clever montage of mismatched backdrops for the play being rehearsed, and it’s a shame they’re not more cleverly integrated into the storyline.

There are only a few jabs at theater types (Jeremy Piven and New Jersey take the brunt), and more would have been welcome. The big writing flaw involves loudspeakers in an unseen dressing room. The first time the device is used, it’s clever; after that, it turns repetitive and obvious, almost lazy in its reliance to advance the plot. You’re not going to spend too much time evaluating The Understudy when it ends, and sometimes that’s the second-best thing to seeing the Real Thing.

The Understudy continues through January 3, 2010, at the Roundabout at Laura Pels Theatre, 111 W. 46th Street. For more information visit the Roudabout Theatre Company website.