Arts > Theatre

The Dresser

Norwich Theatre Royal

07/10/21

When Ronald Harwood’s play opened in the early 1980s, audiences must have been perplexed that people would be prepared to huddle together in a theatre, risking their own welfare in the face of a faceless threat. The Dresser takes place during an air raid during the Second World War, but nonetheless seems an unusually prescient narrative for these troubled times. It may be bombs that rained down during their production of King Lear, but the need to get out the house and go see a show has never made more sense.

It’s a subtext, however, that is an accident of circumstance. This revival of Harwood’s play has been itching to get on stage since before the pandemic – there have been two abortive attempts to bring the play to Norwich before last night’s performance – so that there was a palpable sense of expectation before curtain went up. Bluntly put, was it worth the wait? Previously, the role of “Sir”, the ageing thespian creeping unenviably towards the end of his career, has been played by some of the most notable grandees of British Theatre. Freddie Jones, Albert Finney, Ken Stott and Anthony Hopkins have all had a stab. They’ve been partnered by equally illustrious “Dressers,” sparring with the likes of Tom Courtenay, Ian McKellen and Michael Palin. Those actors left huge shoes to fill, and must have left director Terry Johnson scratching his head, wondering how to ring the changes.

Happily, this new production of a classic text was a resolute success, not least due to brilliant performances from the two leads, cleverly cast against type to bring a freshness to the text that was both surprising and energising. Matthew Kelly and Julian Clary both have careers more closely associated with comedy than tragedy. The respective hosts of Stars in the Their Eyes and Sticky Moments, these are men we are used to sharing the lighter side of life with. Common sense, however, tells us there is more to them that meets the eye, with Kelly in particular having had a notable acting career since his game show days. To my mind, this gives their participation considerable heft. Here are men that have lived life – perhaps not the lives of their characters – but that experience nonetheless imbues their performances with gravity and pathos that goes beyond acting.

Julian Clary may well have been “himself” on stage, but that was only because the role of Norman was so perfect for him. Clary would have been in his early twenties when the part was created, but one might otherwise have concluded it was written for him. There has been some chatter that he doesn’t quite have the vituperative rage within him that the play demands, but I think that quite wrong. Clary presents an altogether different Norman – sanguine, reflective, witty – than we have seen before, and one that, notwithstanding the period setting, feels absolutely right for a contemporary audience.

Matthew Kelly, by way of contrast, entirely disappears within the role of “Sir”, a self-obsessed, delusional antique that forgets his lines and his loyalties. Deftly avoiding the grand standing that could so easily have turned the man into a caricature, he managed to evoke pity for a character that is thoroughly unlikeable, yet inexplicably retains the loyalty of those around him. Deftly handling scenes that are particularly challenging for today’s audience, we see him fondling an aspiring actress, blacking up, and displaying casual homophobia, yet never at the expense of authenticity.

It’s worth adding that, though the play is generally thought a two hander, there was some solid support throughout. NataliServat’s young actress is not quite the “me-too” victim one might suppose, while Samuel Holmes’s Oxenby represents every angry young man that has tread the boards. Best of all, Rebecca Charles was particularly strong as Sir’s manager, thanklessly and tirelessly chasing after a man she clearly loves. Quite why she, or Pip Donaghy’s touching Thorton, or Norman the Dresser, are all quite so besotted is one aspect of the play that is never entirely resolved, but the company do their very best to make sense of it.

Finally, a tip of the hat to Tim Shortall’s clever set design, which allows us to see the bustle of pre-performance, even while the claustrophobia of the dressing room closes in around our leads. Quite how much of that is in the text I couldn’t say, but it is what distinguishes theatre from film, and what makes this revival on stage so worthwhile. For all Sir’s self-obsession and egocentric behaviour, there is a world out there that is going to carry on without him - much to his chagrin, no doubt. It all added up to a thoroughly entertaining and worthwhile restaging of a play that, much like Sir himself, turned out to have one more great performance within it.