Letter from the Understudy

Man has become obsessed with the idea of becoming famous, successful and acknowledged. Man wants to climb the social ladder, and stand at the top. There are different ways to achieve these goals, and some are more desperate than others. “Letter from the Understudy” is a short story by the author, Kathryn Simonds, in which she portrays this desire to acquire acknowledgement and fame.

“Letter from the Understudy” conveys the protagonist, Gavin’s, longing after climbing the theatre’s social ladder, and becoming the leading role instead of the understudy: “But I knew, I knew in my heart, that I didn't lack talent. I just needed the opportunity to prove myself as the Gavin Pollard I could be, (…) the scene-stealing, balcony-scaling leading man.” (pg. 2, l., 27-29) The short story is written as a letter from Gavin to Malcolm, the director: “Dear Malcolm (…)” (pg. 1, l.. 1) Gavin is the understudy in Malcolm’s play, in which Gavin’s colleague, Alex, plays the starring role. Gavin writes the letter, as an apology to Malcolm: “The first thing to say is, I'm sorry. I know it won't be easy for you to believe after recent events, but I deeply regret the mess I've made and the embar-rassment I've caused you.” (pg. 1, l., 2-3)

The letter is written by Gavin, which means that we only hear one side of the story. This means that it is a first person narrator. He might exaggerate, leave out details or change the story. Gavin is most likely unreliable, but manages to catch the reader’s empathy. Gavin includes a lot of details about his family relations, his childhood and other intimate details about his life in the letter to Malcolm: “Mum had never eaten an olive until Di introduced her to one. All I've managed to introduce her to is a feeling of vague anxiety.” The descriptions of his childhood and his relationship with his sister, Dianne, gives an indication that Gavin has been/of Gavin being “the understudy” as long as he can remember – always second in line, after his sister – and Gavin envies his sister: “Mum's always impressed because Dianne buys bottles of balsamic vinegar which are tied with raffia around the neck.” (pg. 2, l., 17-18) He wants to impress his parents, just like his sister has all of her life. Gavin is frustrated, that his parents do not acknowledge his dreams of becoming a successful actor: “(..) they don't understand what we affectionately call 'The Arts'. So my motivation wasn't all self-interest, you see. I owed them.” (pg. 2, l., 19-20)

Gavin uses quotes from both The Wizard of Oz and Shakespeare: “I wasn't being rational, as Shakespeare has it, 'These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumphs die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss, consume’.” (pg. 3, l., 6-9) All of Gavin’s life, performance and arts have acted/played a massive role: “Later on I used to sing that song to myself at castings, except it became 'If I only had a part.” (pg. 2, l., 13) His focus laid on accomplishing a part in the school plays. His carrier start when he is nine years old, and he gets a part in the school’s constellation of The Wizard of Oz: “Actually, it started with The Wizard of Oz at primary school, I was a nine year-old Tin Man and I had a costume made out of foil-covered boxes.” (pg. 2, l. 4-5)

The short story has a couple of references to Shakespeare’s work. Gavin feels guilty after trying to substitute Alex, similar to the story plot in the famous tragedy by William Shakespeare: “Mac-beth”. Shakespeare himself also fought for his fame and recognition. which we see in the… In the film “Shakespeare in Love” his story is conveyed. Shakespeare did not become successful from one day to another – he had to fight for his passion, and fail several times before achieving his goals. Gavin has been through similar conditions. The last play before Gavin escapes is an constellation of Romeo and Juliet in which Gavin has the role of Romeo: “I held Juliet to me as if she were my dy-ing career, and all I could do was weep and rage. Afterwards I got on a plane and came here.” (pg. 3, l. 26-27) As Gavin is on stage that night, he knows that what he has done will be discovered and his carrier will be over.

There is not given a specific location/A specific location is not given but the reader gets a feeling, that Gavin is located somewhere exotic with orangutans: “(.. )there's not much else to do but rumi-nate once you've wandered around the market and visited the Orang-utan sanctuary (..) (pg. 1, l., 3) Gavin himself is not directly described, but the reader has to read between the lines, and construct a person characteristics based on his recollection and the way he portrays his childhood. The reader is easily pursued into believing that Gavin’s apology is sincere and - even though the reader only hears Gavin’s side of the story – the reader feels empathy with Gavin: “The theatre is my wife, I thought, And now I've lost her. And I began to sob.” (pg. 1, l., 25-26) The crime is somehow nearly justified. The reader pities Gavin and blames the fact that he never actually had the chance he has been longing for: “I just needed the opportunity to prove myself as the Gavin Pollard I could be (..)” (pg. 2, l., 25-26)

Kathryn Simmonds is just one author to orchestrate man’s countless different ways of achieving his ambitions. It lies naturally in man, to set goals and try to achieve these. Letter from the Understudy broadcasts one of the more serious, maybe exaggerated, ways of succeeding these goals. But just like Gavin, the urge and desperation to reach these goals can backfire, and make it even harder than it was before. “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; Is is the green-ey’d moster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on.”