|
"The Understudy" is the fifth episode of British dark comedy anthology series ''Inside No. 9''. It was first broadcast on 5 March 2014 on BBC Two. The episode was written by and starred Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and guest-starred Lyndsey Marshal, Julia Davis, Rosie Cavaliero, Roger Sloman, Di Botcher, Richard Cordery, Bruce Mackinnon and Jo Stone-Fewings. Pemberton plays actor Tony, who is starring as Macbeth in a West End production of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'', and Shearsmith plays Jim, Tony's understudy. The plot of "The Understudy" partially mirrors the story of ''Macbeth'', exploring the theme of power and the lives of actors. The episode took longer to write than any other in the first series of ''Inside No. 9'', and was redrafted several times owing to the writers' uncertainty as to whether the characters should be amateurs or professionals. It is presented in five separate acts, mirroring theatrical norms. Critics responded positively to "The Understudy", praising it as an improvement upon the previous week's episode "Last Gasp". They stressed the links between "The Understudy" and ''Macbeth'', but said that viewers would not need to be familiar with Shakespeare's work in order to enjoy the episode. On its first showing, "The Understudy" was watched by 720,000 viewers (4.1% of the market); this was the lowest viewership of the series so far. ==Production== Writers Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, who had previously worked together on ''The League of Gentlemen'' and ''Psychoville'', took inspiration for ''Inside No. 9'' from "David and Maureen", episode 4 of the first series of ''Psychoville''. This episode, in turn, was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's ''Rope''. "David and Maureen" took place entirely in a single room, and was filmed in only two shots. At the same time, the concept of ''Inside No. 9'' was a "reaction" to ''Psychoville'', with Shearsmith saying that "We'd been so involved with labyrinthine over-arcing, we thought it would be nice to do six different stories with a complete new house of people each week. That's appealing, because as a viewer you might not like this story, but you've got a different one next week."〔 〕 As an anthology series with horror themes, ''Inside No. 9'' also pays homage to ''Tales of the Unexpected'', ''The Twilight Zone'', and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. As the format of ''Inside No. 9'' requires new characters each week, the writers were able to attract actors who may have been unwilling to commit to an entire series.〔 In addition to Pemberton and Shearsmith, who played lead actor Tony and understudy Jim respectively, the episode starred Lyndsey Marshal as Laura, Julia Davis as Felicity, Rosie Cavaliero as Kirstie, Roger Sloman as Bill, Di Botcher as Jean, and Richard Cordery as Nick. In addition, Bruce Mackinnon provided the voice of an actor playing Malcolm in ''Macbeth'', and Jo Stone-Fewings provided the voice of an actor playing Macduff.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xhl2m )〕 The episode was written and is presented in a five-act structure to mirror theatrical norms. This allowed for jumps in time within the episode, as well as marking it out from others in the series. The plot is essentially based on ''Macbeth'', leading Pemberton to suggest that the episode might be used "on an O Level syllabus" in the future. Unlike other episodes in the series, "The Understudy" did not take place in a family home, and for this reason, the writers were keen not to alienate viewers.〔 After the initial idea of a group of characters backstage at a production of ''Macbeth'',〔 the writers re-scripted several times, unsure of whether the characters should be amateurs, members of a touring company or professionals.〔 This meant that the script-writing took longer for "The Understudy" than for any other episode of the first series of ''Inside No. 9''.〔 The script eventually settled on actors at a West End theatre. For Shearsmith, it mattered that the actors had a "real chance" and that there were high stakes. The episode, he suggested, reflected happenings in a real theatre, rather than a television version. Pemberton said that the West End setting allowed for the "agonising" scene of a post-performance visit from audience members.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Understudy (Inside No. 9)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|