Swing is a term that is not often heard when talking about musical theatre. It is a title for an actor whose job is to learn and be able to perform another actor’s role and track if needed. Swing is an understudy who makes sure that the show can go ahead as planned even if not everyone is able to perform.

I have done a swings job in two production so far in my career. The first time was in 2016-2017 when Tampere University of Applied Science and TTT-Theatre co-produced the musical Spring Awakening directed by Samuel Harjanne. The second time will be autumn 2020 in the musical Kinky Boots, also a TTT-Theatre production directed by Harjanne.

In this bachelor’s thesis I will go through the history and the current state of swings in musicals both abroad and in Finland. I also write about swing’s job in practice, reflecting my own experiences. After reading this bachelor’s thesis you know what swings are and what they do in a musical.