THE DRESSER
By Ronald Harwood

Compass in association with The Riverfront, Newport present Ronald Harwood's evocative and hilarious portrait of wartime touring theatre.

It’s 1942 and bombs are raining down from the sky and the lights are going out all over Europe.

Except, that is, in a provincial theatre in England where, despite the war, most able-bodied actors being in uniform and bombs destroying theatres, the show must go on because the redoubtable actor-manager "Sir" says it must.

The show is King Lear and Sir is about to make his 227th appearance in this most demanding of roles.

But with thirty minutes to curtain-up, Sir, lion of the stage and last bastion of the old touring tradition, is crumbling and his devoted dresser, Norman must once again rally this fading star whose grip on sanity is becoming increasingly precarious.

For 16 years Norman has been massaging Sir’s ego, fixing Sir’s wig, reminding Sir of his opening lines and even providing the sound effects to the storm scene.

Without the loyal and caring Norman to cajole and encourage him, Sir probably wouldn't even leave the dressing room, never mind go on stage.

The Dresser is Ronald Harwood’s evocative, perceptive and hilarious portrait of backstage life and one of the most acclaimed dramas of modern theatre.

"A wonderfully affectionate and intelligent play about the theatre"

THE GUARDIAN

“Anyone who loves the theatre will love Ronald Harwood's glorious double portrait of an old actor-manager touring the provinces in the Second World War and of the devoted dresser who so faithfully serves him”

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

“A modern classic”

Michael Portillo THE NEW STATESMAN

"Anyone who loves the theatre can’t fail to love this gently perceptive and movingly recreated view from the wings and dressing rooms of the dying fall of a once-great actor-manager who has lived for the stage, and the man who has lived for him for the past 16 years. This tale of their mutual co-dependence is lovingly charted in Ronald Harwood’s script..."

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS

"...a wonderfully affectionate and intelligent play about the theatre."

THE GUARDIAN

"This is a beguiling portrait of the vanities and insecurities of two men offered little by the real world. Their love’s never acknowledged, but Sir’s fetish for fame, and Norman’s fetish for self-sacrifice makes them the perfect match."

TIME OUT LONDON

"...a riotously funny parody of luvvies at their most ludicrous, shot through with just enough truth even to make an audience wince as it giggles. ...apart from The Entertainer, this is the best play written since World War Two about the backstage life."

Sheridan Morley DAILY EXPRESS

"Ronald Harwood joined Sir Donald Wolfit’s Shakespeare Company as an actor and then as dresser to the old-style actor-manager. No wonder his marvellous play, The Dresser, is such a pungent, poignant, funny and utterly authentic portrayal of a life in the theatre in wartime England. Now 25 years old, the play is a classic."

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