The Dresser

Synopsis

In a war-torn provincial theatre an ageing actor manager, known to his loyal acting company as 'Sir', is struggling to keep a grip on his sanity and complete his two hundred and twenty-seventh performance of King Lear. Thanks to the efforts of Herr Hitler, all the able-bodied actors are in uniform and bombs are destroying theatres across the country, but the show must go on. Ensuring that it does is Norman. Sir's devoted dresser, who for sixteen years has been there to fix his wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and provide the sound effects in the storm scene. Inspired by the memories of his years working as Donald Wolfit's dresser, Ronald Harwood's evocative, perceptive and hilarious portrait of backstage life is one of the most acclaimed dramas of modern theatre.

Our Review:

1 March 2005

Anyone who loves the theatre can’t fail to love The Dresser, a gently perceptive and lovingly recreated backstage view from the wings and dressing rooms of the dying fall of a man who has lived for the stage, and the man of the title who has lived for him for the last 16 years.

Ronald Harwood’s beautifully evocative play – originally premiered 25 years ago and now revived at the Duke of York’s - perfectly summons up the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd. Or at any rate the smattering of entrance applause that greets the elderly star actor-manager when he finally takes to the stage of a provincial rep as part of a touring Shakespearean troupe in the middle of the Second World War. The disruptions of air raid warning sirens and dropping bombs are as nothing compared to the monumental effort that the dresser Norman makes to coax ‘Sir’ onto the stage as King Lear – or of Sir’s Herculean struggle to carry the body of his Cordelia (played by h...

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Latest User Review

212.100.250.212) - 20 March 2005:

(Performance seen - evening 17th March) Now, here is an enigma! 'The Dresser' is undoubtedly one of the great plays of the latter partof the 20th century. The individual performances in this production are very fine and my overall feeling on leaving the theatre was one of having somehow been sold short! It is very hard to pin down quite why. As Sir, Julian Glover gives a wonderfully rounded performance - totally believable. Nicholas Lyndhurst as Norman shows total mastery of timing but, somehow, put together, there is a lack of balance. Perhaps it has something to do with the respective genres of the two actors. Lyndhurst's Norman is minutely observed and played with all the fine detailed subtlety of a great small-screen actor. In a theatre any larger than The Duke of Yorks (which is small) much of it would be lost. Glover's Sir, on the other hand, would be seen, heard and understood in the very back row of the largest hall in the land. That said, I am glad that I saw it on this, one of its rare professional outings. It is just a shame that it seemed to me to be an interesting experiment in which the whole was not really a total fusion of its componant parts!...

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