The Case for Understudies in High School Theatre

by Chris Peterson

A recent high school theatre story caught my attention after a school reportedly canceled its spring production because of the illness of one student performer, with plans to stage the show next year using the same cast.

Before anything else, I want to be clear about where I stand on that. I do not know the specifics of the student’s illness, I hope it’s nothing too serious and genuinely wish them well, and I am not criticizing the school for making that choice. If they have the ability to pause, take care of the student, and give the cast another chance next year, that feels like a compassionate outcome.

What the story did make me think about, though, is how many high school theatre programs still have no real plan in place when a major performer cannot go on.

My own high school did not use understudies. Then we did The Sound of Music, and our Captain Von Trapp became seriously ill during the weekend run. None of that was his fault, obviously. But the production felt it. You could sense the strain all over the stage. The show was no longer operating the way it was meant to. Everyone was just trying to get through it.

That memory came back to me immediately when I saw this story.

I understand why understudies are rare in high school theatre. Most programs are already stretched thin. Directors are juggling rehearsals, choreography, sets, costumes, parent communication, school policies, and everything else that comes with putting on a show.

A lot of schools probably do not feel like they have the numbers to cover principal roles twice. And in an educational setting, I can also understand why assigning understudies might feel awkward. Nobody wants a student to feel like they were cast as someone’s backup.

But live theatre does not care about that discomfort. Students get sick. They get injured. Family emergencies happen. Life shows up in the middle of your rehearsal process, whether you planned for it or not. And when there is no backup plan, everybody feels it.

The student who is out may feel guilty, even when they have done nothing wrong. The cast gets thrown into panic mode. The director starts making survival decisions instead of creative ones. And a production that may have taken months to build suddenly feels far more fragile than anyone wanted to admit.

That is why I think this is worth talking about.

Not because every high school needs to operate like Broadway. They do not. Most schools are never going to have the resources to fully understudy every major role, and that is fine. But more programs should be asking practical questions before they get to opening night. Which roles would be hardest to lose? Who could cover them if needed? Is there at least some kind of emergency plan?

Because in a lot of schools, the answer still seems to be no.

And I think that is a mistake, not just for the production, but for the students. Understudying teaches focus, discipline, and preparedness. It asks someone to know the work even without the promise of stepping into the spotlight. That may not be glamorous, but it is real theatre training.

Again, this is not a shot at the school that chose to postpone. I actually think there is something kind and sensible about saying, we are not going to force our way through this. But the story still points to a bigger issue. Too many high school productions are built on the assumption that everybody will stay healthy and available all the way through the run.

That is just not how life works.

If a program is going to invest months into a production, it should also spend some time thinking about what happens when something goes wrong. That is not pessimism. That is responsible theatre-making.