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The Dresser
A traveling Shakespeare company performs King Lear during the Blitz. Norman, dresser to the troupe's aging, megalomaniac star, struggles to maintain his composure and sanity amid air raid sirens, German bombing runs, and a master thespian slowly merging with the thunderous Mad King.
Premiered in 1980 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, starring Freddie Jones as "Sir" and Tom Courtenay as Norman.
Premiered in 1980 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, starring Freddie Jones as "Sir" and Tom Courtenay as Norman.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
3 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Ronald Harwood
84 books13 followersSir Ronald Harwood, CBE, FRSL (born Ronald Horwitz; 9 November 1934) was an author, playwright and screenwriter. He was most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser (for which he was nominated for an Oscar) and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_H...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_H...
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 4, 2016
Blurbs from wiki: The play was first presented on 6 March 1980 at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and transferred to the Queen's Theatre in London on 30 April 1980, with Freddie Jones as "Sir" and Tom Courtenay as Norman. The play was nominated for Best Play at the Society of West End Theatre Awards (now known as the Laurence Olivier Awards) for 1980. In 2016 a production directed by Sean Foley and starring Ken Stott and Reece Shearsmith played theatres including the Duke of Yorks Theatre in London's West End.
This is the version I will be encountering: A television version for the BBC was shown in the UK on 31 October 2015. Richard Eyre directed Anthony Hopkins as "Sir" and Ian McKellen as Norman, with Emily Watson as "Her Ladyship", Sarah Lancashire as Madge and Edward Fox as Thornton.
Interview
All things point to Lear at the moment, don't they - we have this being enacted out as Trump wishes to divest himself of his businesses to the three eldest children so that he can carry on and become a yuge, bigly president...
This is the version I will be encountering: A television version for the BBC was shown in the UK on 31 October 2015. Richard Eyre directed Anthony Hopkins as "Sir" and Ian McKellen as Norman, with Emily Watson as "Her Ladyship", Sarah Lancashire as Madge and Edward Fox as Thornton.
Interview
All things point to Lear at the moment, don't they - we have this being enacted out as Trump wishes to divest himself of his businesses to the three eldest children so that he can carry on and become a yuge, bigly president...
June 1, 2023
Post-WW2, a theatre company (Britain?) is worn out, and its old actor-manager (Churchill?) is Lear-like, but it still has much to offer.
Read
August 10, 2024Another of those hilariously, sad pieces. The old actor, playing King Lear, slightly less sane than the character, while World War II is going on outside the theatre, yields plenty of funny moments, but at the same time there is only one possible ending.
December 4, 2023
It’s rare these days to read a play and have a burning desire to act in it, but I was clearly born to play Norman.
August 10, 2019
Još jedno 'pozorišno pozorište'. (Komad o komadu.)
Bombardovanje Londona 1942. i trupa koja i dalje igra. Prava drama je iza scene. Umetnost je odbrana i otpor. Životi teški, duše izgrebane.
Šekspir viri svuda. Kralj Lir šeta.
Bombardovanje Londona 1942. i trupa koja i dalje igra. Prava drama je iza scene. Umetnost je odbrana i otpor. Životi teški, duše izgrebane.
Šekspir viri svuda. Kralj Lir šeta.
March 1, 2019
To read it, it's a play about theater, acting, aging, friendship, rivalries, loyalty, alcoholism, and loss. To feel it, it's a play about the war, the frailty of the human spirit in fending off the existential storms, and how poetic language can provide the only dignity against these losing odds.
With the right cast and director, this short but powerful play stands tall about how expensive art is to make--how the stage becomes the arena to collect blood from its actors.
One more thing, most of the attention, the spotlight is for Sir, the career actor getting ready for one more show. But the title cannot be forgotten; it is really about those who serve art, those who carry on in the name of creativity to make the shadows flicker against the cave wall.
It's a lyrical, enchanting, bewitching and ultimately, moving play.
With the right cast and director, this short but powerful play stands tall about how expensive art is to make--how the stage becomes the arena to collect blood from its actors.
One more thing, most of the attention, the spotlight is for Sir, the career actor getting ready for one more show. But the title cannot be forgotten; it is really about those who serve art, those who carry on in the name of creativity to make the shadows flicker against the cave wall.
It's a lyrical, enchanting, bewitching and ultimately, moving play.
February 29, 2024
Sterke ode aan het toneel, aan de traditie van reizende voorstellingen van Shakespeareklassiekers, cultuurspreiding in tijden van oorlog en bombardementen.
Daarnaast ook een reflectie over de vluchtigheid van dat leven, over de eenzaamheid van theatermensen. Met milde spot, een warme empathie doorspekt met (Britse) ironie.
Daarnaast ook een reflectie over de vluchtigheid van dat leven, over de eenzaamheid van theatermensen. Met milde spot, een warme empathie doorspekt met (Britse) ironie.
September 5, 2025
The Dresser by Ronald Harwood
You must read this!! If you want my advice.
This is a wonderful, complex, meaningful, funny and sad play.
Simply fabulous.
Norman is at the center of it all and what an amazing character we have. I first saw the adaptation of the play- The Dresser, in which Norman was played by Tom Courtenay and Sir, is played by Albert Finney. An extraordinary film, nominated for Five Academy Awards.
Because I loved the film so much, I decided to listen to an audio production of the play and what a joy it was.
The intrigue, the heroes and heroines, the humor and the tragedy all contribute to a feeling of bliss.
It has become one of my favorite plays.
The subject is The Dresser and the action takes place within this theater company which has to give performances in the most difficult of circumstances, during World War II and during air raids.
Sir is the manager of the company and we only know him as such- Sir. He is a leonine character, wonderfully played both in the film and the audio play version.
But the Dresser, an “insignificant” character in appearance only, is the one who has the lead role in this magnificent play. He is the one who helps Sir to get and keep his act together and with that, we get a feeling that he is the real “leader” of the company.
He knows what plays will be performed and whispers to Sir, when the latter forgot it on stage. He manages some of the private life of his “employer”.
An aspiring young woman comes in Sir’s room, with the hope that she will be cast in some major role. The Dresser brings her down to Earth and in a dialogue which has accents of both humor and cruelty, says to her, something like:
- What did you want with him ducky?
- Nothing
- Come on tell me…I know everything and I have to be informed of all that goes on
- He made me compliments and maybe I will play…
- Come off it Ducky…all he want is a light eater…he has to take Cordelia in his arms
- No...He said…
- Never mind what he said, how do you think her Ladyship got her part…”
The company is short of people, so there is no one to “produce the storm” in Lear. They resort to Norman, who is afterwards interrogating everyone:
- How was the storm?
- Do you think it was all right?
- Was it loud enough?
- What did he say?...by “he” Norman meant Sir.
The devotion and love that Norman feels for Sir, seems to have homosexual undertones, suggested by the “gay – flamboyant way” of acting.
It was unnoticed by me in the first instance, when I saw the movie, but become undeniable in the play.
The relations back stage are very complicated- Oxenby is a sworn enemy of sir and declares that he will set up his own company:
- “Death to all tyrants”
The play is witty, humorous and tragic.
We find that Sir betrayed the immense affection of his dresser. I will not delve into this; it will come as a shock to you when you read the play
And read it you must
I was flabbergasted to learn that the actor playing Norman in the audio production was none other than …Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame. And what an extraordinary performance he gives.
Exhilarating play and performances all a round
Absolute Bliss
You must read this!! If you want my advice.
This is a wonderful, complex, meaningful, funny and sad play.
Simply fabulous.
Norman is at the center of it all and what an amazing character we have. I first saw the adaptation of the play- The Dresser, in which Norman was played by Tom Courtenay and Sir, is played by Albert Finney. An extraordinary film, nominated for Five Academy Awards.
Because I loved the film so much, I decided to listen to an audio production of the play and what a joy it was.
The intrigue, the heroes and heroines, the humor and the tragedy all contribute to a feeling of bliss.
It has become one of my favorite plays.
The subject is The Dresser and the action takes place within this theater company which has to give performances in the most difficult of circumstances, during World War II and during air raids.
Sir is the manager of the company and we only know him as such- Sir. He is a leonine character, wonderfully played both in the film and the audio play version.
But the Dresser, an “insignificant” character in appearance only, is the one who has the lead role in this magnificent play. He is the one who helps Sir to get and keep his act together and with that, we get a feeling that he is the real “leader” of the company.
He knows what plays will be performed and whispers to Sir, when the latter forgot it on stage. He manages some of the private life of his “employer”.
An aspiring young woman comes in Sir’s room, with the hope that she will be cast in some major role. The Dresser brings her down to Earth and in a dialogue which has accents of both humor and cruelty, says to her, something like:
- What did you want with him ducky?
- Nothing
- Come on tell me…I know everything and I have to be informed of all that goes on
- He made me compliments and maybe I will play…
- Come off it Ducky…all he want is a light eater…he has to take Cordelia in his arms
- No...He said…
- Never mind what he said, how do you think her Ladyship got her part…”
The company is short of people, so there is no one to “produce the storm” in Lear. They resort to Norman, who is afterwards interrogating everyone:
- How was the storm?
- Do you think it was all right?
- Was it loud enough?
- What did he say?...by “he” Norman meant Sir.
The devotion and love that Norman feels for Sir, seems to have homosexual undertones, suggested by the “gay – flamboyant way” of acting.
It was unnoticed by me in the first instance, when I saw the movie, but become undeniable in the play.
The relations back stage are very complicated- Oxenby is a sworn enemy of sir and declares that he will set up his own company:
- “Death to all tyrants”
The play is witty, humorous and tragic.
We find that Sir betrayed the immense affection of his dresser. I will not delve into this; it will come as a shock to you when you read the play
And read it you must
I was flabbergasted to learn that the actor playing Norman in the audio production was none other than …Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame. And what an extraordinary performance he gives.
Exhilarating play and performances all a round
Absolute Bliss
September 2, 2025
Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser is a love letter to the crumbling grandeur of a bygone stage.
At its heart is Norman — fussy, fluttering, ever-faithful — the backstage keeper of an aging lion: Sir, one of England’s last great actor-managers, who once roamed the provinces with Shakespeare as his gospel.
The curtain rises in the shadows of World War II. The bombs fall not only from the sky — as the Germans attack the provincial town where the troupe plays — but also within: Sir’s body is failing, his mind unraveling. Yet tonight, he must be Lear once more — for the 227th time. A role that demands the soul, a storm that tears even the strongest hearts to tatters.
Discharged from hospital and barely upright, Sir is more specter than man. But Norman — who’s served him for sixteen years with the quiet desperation of the devoted — knows all the tricks. He knows the lines, the cues, the creaks in Sir’s bones. He knows how to coax the old actor back to life. With brandy nips, nervous tics, and endless prattle, Norman flatters, soothes, and revives him. He’s more than a dresser; he’s the ghostlight in the wings.
Madge, the stern stage manager with her own tender loyalty, pleads for reason. Sir is too ill. The show is too much. But Norman will not yield — not to war, nor age, nor common sense. Theater is their religion, and tonight the gods must be appeased.
Sir — vain, virile in memory, stormy in presence — dons his Lear robes, and something alchemical happens. The dying man disappears; the actor takes his place. Even as bombs fall outside, the stage holds firm. The play goes on.
In this fragile chaos, Norman’s monologues — often starting with “I had a friend once…” — shimmer with sadness, humor, and the ache of unspoken truths. His love for Sir runs deep and silent, never named, never requited — a devotion that borders on self-erasure. He has chosen this life, clung to it with trembling hands, and we are left to ask: is this sacrifice or submission?
Harwood, once a dresser himself to Sir Donald Wolfit, draws from memory and reverence. His introduction recalls a lost era when actor-managers hauled Shakespeare across muddy towns, keeping the bard alive in flickering footlights.
The play, later adapted to film and honored with Oscar nods, is rich, theatrical, poignant. Yet, in the light of today, some shadows grow longer. Norman’s hidden queerness, once whispered subtext, feels muted now — a relic of another time. And his servitude, once seen as touching, can feel troubling. The tragedy is not just onstage, but in the choices made off it — and the cost of a life spent behind the curtain.
At its heart is Norman — fussy, fluttering, ever-faithful — the backstage keeper of an aging lion: Sir, one of England’s last great actor-managers, who once roamed the provinces with Shakespeare as his gospel.
The curtain rises in the shadows of World War II. The bombs fall not only from the sky — as the Germans attack the provincial town where the troupe plays — but also within: Sir’s body is failing, his mind unraveling. Yet tonight, he must be Lear once more — for the 227th time. A role that demands the soul, a storm that tears even the strongest hearts to tatters.
Discharged from hospital and barely upright, Sir is more specter than man. But Norman — who’s served him for sixteen years with the quiet desperation of the devoted — knows all the tricks. He knows the lines, the cues, the creaks in Sir’s bones. He knows how to coax the old actor back to life. With brandy nips, nervous tics, and endless prattle, Norman flatters, soothes, and revives him. He’s more than a dresser; he’s the ghostlight in the wings.
Madge, the stern stage manager with her own tender loyalty, pleads for reason. Sir is too ill. The show is too much. But Norman will not yield — not to war, nor age, nor common sense. Theater is their religion, and tonight the gods must be appeased.
Sir — vain, virile in memory, stormy in presence — dons his Lear robes, and something alchemical happens. The dying man disappears; the actor takes his place. Even as bombs fall outside, the stage holds firm. The play goes on.
In this fragile chaos, Norman’s monologues — often starting with “I had a friend once…” — shimmer with sadness, humor, and the ache of unspoken truths. His love for Sir runs deep and silent, never named, never requited — a devotion that borders on self-erasure. He has chosen this life, clung to it with trembling hands, and we are left to ask: is this sacrifice or submission?
Harwood, once a dresser himself to Sir Donald Wolfit, draws from memory and reverence. His introduction recalls a lost era when actor-managers hauled Shakespeare across muddy towns, keeping the bard alive in flickering footlights.
The play, later adapted to film and honored with Oscar nods, is rich, theatrical, poignant. Yet, in the light of today, some shadows grow longer. Norman’s hidden queerness, once whispered subtext, feels muted now — a relic of another time. And his servitude, once seen as touching, can feel troubling. The tragedy is not just onstage, but in the choices made off it — and the cost of a life spent behind the curtain.
January 28, 2019
If I may generalize: Plays within plays tend towards the comedic (Noises Off, Pyramus and Thisbe from A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The Dresser is a dramatic contrast, being the tale of an aging actor and his long-time dresser.
I’ve read other plays that have tackled dementia, and what amazes me is that, for all these plays tread similar ground, all feel unique and different. The Dresser is no exception.
Sir, the aging actor, is perhaps the least likeable of these memory-plagued characters, Mr. Harwood having allowed sufficient hints of the man’s character and past to tinge compassion with reality. Norman, Sir’s ever-loyal dresser, is an interesting character, as there’s both so much and so little about him on the page. Recommended.
I’ve read other plays that have tackled dementia, and what amazes me is that, for all these plays tread similar ground, all feel unique and different. The Dresser is no exception.
Sir, the aging actor, is perhaps the least likeable of these memory-plagued characters, Mr. Harwood having allowed sufficient hints of the man’s character and past to tinge compassion with reality. Norman, Sir’s ever-loyal dresser, is an interesting character, as there’s both so much and so little about him on the page. Recommended.
April 28, 2025
As the bombs fall outside, an old-style actor-manager and his long-serving, long-suffering but devoted dresser prepares him for his performance of King Lear. The self-styled Great Actor conducts himself with hammy bombast while the company frets around him. Norman, the dresser, devotedly buzzes around him, camply mixing devotion with cattiness.
The play has some fantastic dialogue and is only let down by a weak(ish) ending.
The play has some fantastic dialogue and is only let down by a weak(ish) ending.
October 16, 2018
Definitely an actor's play. Lots of backstage business and inside jokes that you only get as an actor. I wish I'd read KING LEAR recently; I think it would have helped.
January 12, 2022
A brilliant play on so many levels!
January 29, 2024
Hadn’t revisited this piece in 40 years. It’s predictable, but satisfying. BONUS ==> you can watch the 1983 film version on Amazon Prime!
May 25, 2025
Need to reread King Lear and then visit this again. 3.5 almost 4 stars.
January 26, 2026
I see through this play for the sentimental piece that it is, but the unusual and requited love story just works for me and the setting pushes all the right buttons. I'll respect somebody who pans it, but I don't.
Read
January 2, 2017That's the world... an a stage.... acting.... so the question is who is perfect?
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Slow motion then fast going... showing as how you can't do anything... the thing which you can do is just to watch.
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Slow motion then fast going... showing as how you can't do anything... the thing which you can do is just to watch.
February 7, 2018
Ends up feeling as inconsequential as the lead character feels. There's some excellent dialogue and characterization here, but it all too often feels like it's leading nowhere. And it pretty much does.
Perhaps I should stick to watching plays instead of reading them.
Perhaps I should stick to watching plays instead of reading them.
January 28, 2016
Must have seen the film, have never seen this production, would enjoy it.
February 12, 2014
Nearly perfect. Of Abbey Road stature.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews