The Understudy

"A zippy comedy with laugh-out-loud lines, grounded on a solid plot and first-rate dialogue...irresistible." -- Daily Mail (London) Recently divorced actor Stephen C. McQueen (no relation, unfortunately) appears to have a knack for bad luck. But a failed marriage, a stalled career, a horrid little studio apartment in the far reaches of the London suburbs -- all these pathetic elements seem to pale in the chiseled face of his newest tormentor: Josh Harper, the Twelfth Sexiest Man in the World. Josh is the star of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, a play about Lord Byron -- and Stephen is his understudy. Not only is Josh fantastically, infuriatingly good-looking, internationally renowned, and remarkably talented, he's also frustratingly healthy. Stephen doubts he'll ever get his chance to tread the boards in the role that would certainly be the break he's always waited for. And just when Stephen's sure he couldn't resent Josh more, he meets Josh's witty, restless American wife, Nora... and discovers he likes her a little too much. Caught between his stirring feelings for Nora, the demands of an insistent and secretive Josh, and his lifelong desire for a real career in show business, Stephen must make a terrible decision: Will it be the girl or the fame? A hapless, bumbling bloke in love, an arrogant megastar with a potpourri of addictions, a sexy married woman out of her element in the fast lane -- David Nicholls brings them all together in this knockout romantic comedy. David Nicholls is the author of A Question of Attraction. He is also a successful television screenwriter in the U.K. whose credits include the third series of Cold Feet (seen on Bravo in the United States). He co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Sam Shepard's Simpatico Reader Tristan Layton has appeared in plays in London and New York. His voiceover work includes documentaries, television, and radio commercials.