The Dresser

Half way through this matinee performance of Ronald Harwood’s play at the Theatre Royal I experienced a profound feeling of depression and pessimism for the future of British theatre.

The reason?

I was bombarded on my mobile by Covid regulations, greeted at the entrance with the words “Next time you will need the NHS App” , the thin programme cost £4, the sight line was poor, the theatre poorly ventilated, the bar service inadequate and there seemed to have been nothing by way of improvement to the theatre facilities in its over-200 year history.

I know the play well.

Indeed 5 years ago virtually to the day I saw a production at the same theatre in which Ken Scott starred.

Here is a link to my review – THE DRESSER

The playwright Ronald Harwood was the dresser to and biographer of Donald Wolfit and – though he denies it – the character of Sir seems to be based on the great theatre manager.

However the central character is Norman his camp dresser who fortifies the actor in his self doubts as he is losing his memory and forgetting his lines in King Lear. 

The relationship between Norman (Julian Clary) and Sir (Matthew Kelly) dominates almost every scene.

By the second half my spirits had revived.

Norman, superbly played by Julian Clary, turns nastier, disgust to Sir creeps in and then in the end dependency.

It’s a play within a play and often humourous, as when King Lear is late in his entrance and the Duke of Gloucester has to ad lib “Methinks I hear the King, but no.”

There is also heroism that whilst the Luftwaffe was strafing Britain in 1941 Sir Donal Wolfit and his troupe were touring the provinces keeping theatre going.

So my final reflections on the bus home were entirely positive.