“IT’S NOT quite a roller coaster, but we certainly cover an emotional journey in this play,” said Murray Lindo, director of Wokingham Theatre’s, The Dresser.
Written by Ronald Harwood, the play, first presented in the West End in 1980, was based on Harwood’s own experiences as dresser to English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit.
It tells the story of the demise not only of a man, but of a whole theatre tradition.
Ageing actor, Sir, is descending, under furious protest, into slow decrepitude.
The once brilliant performer, like a spent firework, has one final performance left in him, possibly his brightest and most illuminating.
As he plays the tortured, grieving and regret-filled King Lear, fiction and reality overlap, allowing the play within a play manages to capture not only the fall of a thespian, but that of an entire creative heritage.
“It’s the end of an important era in the world of theatre,” said Murray.
“We are watching the end of the actor-manager tradition as it fades away before our eyes.
“It’s quite an amazing chapter in theatre history that goes back to Shakespeare, and which ended in the mid 19th century.”
At first glance the play seems quite simple.
A troop of strolling players is putting on a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
But this, in itself, is a wonderful parallel of the state into which the group’s lead actor, Sir, is falling.
“Many productions don’t actually perform the Lear scenes in The Dresser,” continued Murray.
“They take place off-stage, but I really want our audiences to be able to see everything, including Sir giving one of his greatest performances in the role of Lear.
“We are voyeurs of both triumphant performances and tragic private moments.”
While in his slow collapse, Sir is held together by long suffering personal assistant, Norman.
Responsible for an elderly man who is having difficulty remembering not only his lines, but who and where he is, Norman tries valiantly to shepherd Sir through his role.
It’s a poignant and moving picture of a fading star: ‘I’m sick, frightened and lonely,’ says Sir, ‘Outside myself, in the darkness, there’s emptiness.’
Giving the audience visual access to all the areas on-stage, off-stage, and in the wings, has been a challenge for the team.
“It hs meant that we’ve had to spend a lot of time working on six particularly complex pages of the play,” said Murray.
“But it has been a wonderfully collaborative project, and people have gone to immense efforts to bring it successfully to the stage.”
‘Speak well of me, talk of me sometimes – an actor only lives on in the memory of others,’ says Sir.
The Dresser is a play that is likely to stay with audiences long after the performance is over.
“It’s not a rom com, but there are moments of lightness among the deep emotion of the story,” said Murray.
“I hope people will be genuinely moved by what they’ve seen.”
The Dresser is on at Wokingham Theatre, from Thursday, October 17, through to Saturday, October 26, with the exception of Sunday.
The bar is open from 7pm, with performances at 7.45pm.
Tickets are available for £16.
For information, and tickets, visit: wokinghamtheatre.org.uk
