Bury Theatre Workshop revives Harwood play at Quay Theatre
Sir (Tim Lodge) attempts to get ready, while Norman (Pelham Elliott) ‘steadies his nerves’. Photo: Stuart Devereux
Bury Theatre Workshop is delighted to be returning to The Quay Theatre in Sudbury later this month with its production of The Dresser.
Set during the Blitz, and with the hotch-potch and sometimes elderly actors who were unable to join the Forces for various reasons, the play offers a funny, sensitive and moving story from the old days of repertory theatre.
To outline the narrative…
In a small provincial theatre. Sir, the last of the great-but-dying breed of English actor-managers, is in a very bad way. As his dresser tries valiantly to prepare him to go on stage as King Lear, Sir is having great difficulty remembering who and where he is, let alone Lear's lines. With a Herculean effort on the part of Norman, the dresser, Sir does finally make it on stage, and through the performance - but at what cost to himself and Norman, whose nerves survive with a mix of anecdotes, dry wit and liquid courage.
The play - first performed in the 1980s - was written by Ronald Harwood who based it on his experiences as dresser to English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who is the model for the character ‘Sir’.
For this production, the role of Sir - previously played by Albert Finney and Sir Anthony Hopkins among others - is to be performed by Bury Theatre Workshop Chairman, Tim Lodge, with Pelham Elliot taking on the role of Norman.
The Dresser opens on January 29 with evening performances as well as a matinee on the Saturday.
Bury Theatre Workshop
Bury Theatre Workshop is a community theatre group formed in February 2012 from a group of theatre enthusiasts, actors, writers and directors, all eager to give a voice to the creative and dynamic spirit of the community of Bury St Edmunds and West Suffolk. Through the group’s productions, workshops and play readings, they offer opportunities to learn from each other and to develop the community’s experiences of theatre, both as audience members and as participants.
The Dresser is at The Quay Theatre in Sudbury from 29 - 31 January 2026.
FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE