The Understudy

The Understudy is the fifth episode of the first series of Inside No. 9

## Plot

Act I
Tony Warner is starring in the lead role of *Macbeth* at the Duke of Cambridge Theatre. Coming back to his dressing room after a performance, he is visited by his understudy Jim. When invited to attend the understudy rehearsal, Tony makes an excuse about having a voiceover job at that time; and the pair are joined by Tony's neighbours Jean and Bill, who have just watched Tony's performance and invites him to dinner. Tony tries the same excuse with them but is unsuccessful. Tony leaves with them, and Jim puts on Tony's prop crown, imagining himself in the leading role.

Act II
Before the understudy rehearsal, Jim's fiancée Laura (the understudy for Lady Macbeth) helps him learn lines in Tony's dressing room. Company manager Felicity arrives and scolds them for using the room. While Jim is absent, Felicity flirts with Laura. Laura asks Tony's dresser, Kirstie, what he earns, before opening Tony's payslip to see for herself. She is determined for Jim to appear as Macbeth, which would allow them to save for their wedding. Laura cuts herself on a pin that Kirstie left in the Lady Macbeth dress, and after she and Kirstie leave the room, Jim sees a drop of blood on the floor grow into a large puddle. When he looks again, it has gone.

Act III
During a Friday night performance, Tony is drunk as he comes backstage during the interim between his part in Acts IV and V. Felicity is angry that Tony, a recovering alcoholic, got drunk again; she has had to issue several refunds because of his drunken behaviour on stage. She sends him into the shower to sober up, and summons Jim. He is unsure whether he knows the lines well enough to go onstage in Tony's place, but Laura encourages him to take the chance. As she hands him a prop dagger, he sees blood all over the dagger and her hands. Tony comes out of the shower and wants to finish the performance, so Jim allows him to go. Laura berates Jim for his lack of ambition. She is left alone in the dressing room and hears noises coming from the shower; but when she goes to look, it is empty. A scream is then heard from the stage, and the stage manager calls for a medic.

Act IV
Jim has taken over the role of Macbeth. It is mentioned that Tony fell off the battlements on stage, and is in hospital. Felicity has been sacked after she was accused of sexual harassment. Laura arrives to congratulate Jim, and he thanks her for encouraging him. He is distant, eventually asking her to leave him to prepare alone. As he puts on his crown in front of the mirror, he hears the sound of whispering, and sees blood pouring from both his eyes and the mirror.

Act V
Nineteen months later, Jim is a famous actor playing the title role in *Richard III* at the theatre, using the same, now redecorated, dressing room. A paralysed Tony comes backstage to visit him and talks about how far Jim's career has come. Jim broke up with Laura and has not seen her since his run in *Macbeth*. After Tony leaves, Kirstie arrives to see Jim. She is now Tony's full-time carer. She has watched Jim's performance every day of the week, and says she knew that he just needed "a little push" to achieve greatness. She tells him that Laura committed suicide by slitting her wrists in the dressing room's shower. Jim did not know about this, because he was overseas filming a role in *Game of Thrones* at the time. He believes that Laura pushed Tony off the battlements and could not live with her guilt. Kirstie reveals that she herself is the one who pushed Tony, and spiked his juice with alcohol backstage. She also got Felicity sacked because Felicity would not let Jim perform as Macbeth. Kirstie is wearing the engagement ring that she took from Laura's corpse. She tells Jim that she is waiting for him "in the wings ... like an understudy". She leaves, and as Jim prepares to go onstage, he sees bloody visions of Laura's death.

## Cast

 Steve Pemberton
 Lyndsey Marshal
 Julia Davis
 Rosie Cavaliero
 Roger Sloman
 Di Botcher
 Richard Cordery
 Bruce Mackinnon
 Jo Stone-Fewings