The role of an understudy is the invisible role every show relies on but audiences rarely think about.

Currently running, Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) has two understudies performing multiple roles across the production.

Written by Isobel McArthur and directed by Simon Harvey, Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) takes Jane Austen’s cherished love story and gleefully transforms it into a madcap, audacious musical comedy. The production thrives on chaos, quick changes and high energy. Its five performers work non-stop, taking on multiple roles, from the Bennet sisters to numerous other well-known Austen characters, while navigating costume changes, musical instruments and an array of characters.

For an understudy, however, the challenge goes beyond simply learning the words and movements. Each performer is responsible for stepping into multiple tracks while preserving the choices and physicality established by the actors they are covering.

This is particularly demanding for Victoria Abbott, who covers three actor’s tracks for three different principal actors: Tillie, Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley and Charlotte to Amy Lehpamer, Effie and Elizabeth Bennett to Teo Vergara, plus Flo, Mr. Darcy and Mrs. Bennett to Zoe Ioannou.  

Unlike other roles, Abbott needs to fit into the world created by the actors assigned to each character.

“About six weeks before production started, I was looking at my lines and trying to learn them, but also not trying not to learn them too well because I knew that the actors assigned to the roles would be creating their own choices and I wanted to be able to really honour that. It’s challenging trying to learn the dialogue without too much interpretation. Getting that character intention in helps with the memorisation but it doesn’t help when you’re trying to guess what the choices are going to be for the production. It’s a bit of a wait and see game.”

There is no floor time together but Abbott attends all the rehearsals including the three-and-a-half-week initial rehearsal period as well as behind-the-scenes check-ins, allowing her to observe and replicate the actors’ movements.

“I’m like a spy,” she explains. “I did a lot of work in my own time, after rehearsals or before rehearsals, running through what I’d seen on the floor, and also running through on the side, at the same time as the actors performing, silently,  stepping through where you’re meant to be and what you’re meant to be saying. Then we get understudy rehearsals later on.”

Victoria has a screen and stage career with more than 70 ticketed performances to her name, as well as playing J-Borg across three seasons of Netflix’s Power Rangers and Kirsty in Jane Campion’s mystery drama series Top of the Lake.

“I think as an actor, you, you never get to choose which production you’re in, but I’ve always had an affinity with Pride and Prejudice. It was my first job back into acting in Australia was doing a different Pride and Prejudice at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney. I grew up watching the BBC version and have a real soft spot it. The reputation of this production, sort of preceded it, with the Olivier Award, the incredible writing and the opportunities for five women /non-binary folk play multiple roles. It sounded really, really fun to me.”

However, it’s her first time being an understudy and she’s learning on the go while managing the mental gymnastics of overlapping tracks through codes, muscle and sensory cues.

“You need to know the roles really well. I code everything. I think of think colours for different people on the stage. I’ve even got essential oils I that smell, different for track, to trigger my memory.”

For Abbott, simply watching rehearsals isn’t enough. She needs to physically work through each track to embed the movements, dialogues and cues.

“I’m a muscle memory person and struggle when I’m just watching. So, in my own time, I go on stage, walk and talk through the whole track, by myself, imagining all the other lines. If there’s a gap between a matinee and a night show, I’ll just pop in and walk the track to get that muscle memory firing, so it all clicks in place.”

The productions combination of dialogue, singing and dancing adds another layer to the challenge. Yet the physicality of the characters offers Abbott another way to navigate. Each role has distinct physical characteristics, giving her a physical cue for which character she is inhabiting.

“The characters have all got quite bold physical differences, and that’s really fun to step in between. For example, Mrs. Bennett has issues with her back and hips from having so many kids, and Zoe does this hilarious, almost waddle across the stage. So, I know if I’m waddling, I’m Mrs. Bennett. Then Amy has this quite upright, staccato movement for Mr. Bingley and a sweeping slimy quality as Miss Bingley. Getting to move through those physical choices as well as the dialogue is really fun for an actor.”

Fortunately, Abbott will have some stage time in Brisbane and Canberra. At time of writing, she’s has already made her debut at the Sydney Opera House, stepping in for Lehpamer. For many understudies, however, the reality is a strange headspace of always being ready to go on, never knowing if they will. They prepare with little notice — sometimes only hours —  remain on standby for months and cover the production, across multiple cities and states.

Abbott has noticed the demands of constant memorisation bleeding into her everyday life, admitting the sheer volume of materials has occasionally pushed other things out.

“My brain doesn’t have huge amounts of capacity, especially when I was in active memorising,” she says. “I forgot my cousin’s name for about five minutes a month ago and I’ve known this person since birth!”

She puts it down to attention rather than memory itself: “It’s less memorisation. It’s there once you’re focused on it, but it can slip away if you’re not.”

Despite her experience across a wide range of theatrical styles, Abbott says the role is unlike anything she has tackled before.

“I’ve been acting for a long time now and I’ve done everything from physical theatre and clowning to naturalism, to postmodern shows about grief, devising work and performing  Shakespeare. This is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done. It’s the most challenging and I imagine, once I get up there, the most rewarding.”

“It’s really cool to be able to support a cast and know that audiences are going to get a wonderful show no matter what happens. Doing this job has given me such respect for swings and understudies, and of course for the actors originating these roles, going on night after night. If someone gets sick, worn down or misses a flight; we’re the safety net.”

Presented by Neil Gooding Productions and Woodward Productions Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is playing at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House in Sydney until 30 August 2026. The production will then tour: Wollongong (IMB Theatre, IPAC) 2–13 September, Canberra (Canberra Theatre Centre) 16–27 September, and Brisbane (Playhouse Theatre, QPAC) 30 September – 18 October. For tickets visit Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)