A White Girl's Understudy
a one-act play
NOMADS WordPlay Cast & Crew (2023)
Maya Shore (Producer), Anushka Sharma (Director), Esther Lee (Lyn Talaga), Jack Rado (Ben Muller), Henry Nuñez (Andrew Herrera), Jasmine Richards (Sienna Russo), Alex Prezeau (Taylor Kumar), Bella Williams (Bo Jian)
Lyn Talaga has achieved her childhood dream. She is an off-stage understudy in the new Broadway play Speakeasy Love and covers the principal female role. However, her greatest love is the show's leading man and dating the leading woman. During a performance of Speakeasy Love, Lyn is forced to confront the reality of her job, recalling memories of how she attained what she thought was success in an industry that does not cater to her and reflects on how her work has changed her identity. As the drama of Speakeasy Love bleeds into her reality and Lyn attains more than she bartered for, she must ask herself if her greatest desires are truly what she wants.
Production/Development History
Spring 2023
Development - Playwriting Lab, Barnard College
Fall 2023
Staged Reading - NOMADS of Columbia University for WordPlay Festival
Spring 2024
Staged Reading - Ensemble Theater Company for Intimate Artists Series
Staged Reading - Off-Broadway for the ROUGH DRAFT Festival at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center
Ensmble Theatre Company Cast (2024)
Esther Lee (Lyn Talaga), Kai Joseph (Ben Muller), Henry Nuñez (Andrew Herrera), Jasmine Richards (Sienna Russo), Alex Prezeau (Taylor Kumar), Bella Williams (Bo Jian)
ROUGH DRAFT Festival Cast (2024)
Ava Blum (Lyn Talaga), Ryna Puterbaugh (Ben Muller), José Tallaj (Andrew Herrera), Jasmine Richards (Sienna Russo), Alex Prezeau (Taylor Kumar), Bella Williams (Bo Jian)