Monday – Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees Thursday & Saturday 2.30pm
Press Night Wednesday 15 September 2021 7pm
Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Thu 9 — Sat 18 Sep
Monday – Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees Thursday & Saturday 2.30pm
Press Night Wednesday 15 September 2021 7pm
Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Thu 9 — Sat 18 Sep
This production has been rescheduled from 21 – 26 September 2020. Tickets remain valid for the equivalent performances. Please see Prices & Performance Times for the new schedule and corresponding performances. Ticket holders are being contacted.
Inspired by memories of working as Donald Wolfit’s dresser as a young man, Ronald Harwood’s evocative, affectionate and hilarious portrait of backstage life is one of the most acclaimed dramas of modern theatre.
It is 1942 and in a war-torn provincial theatre an ageing actor manager, known to his loyal acting company as ‘Sir’, is struggling to cling on to his sanity and complete his two hundred and twenty seventh performance of King Lear.
It is down to Norman, Sir’s devoted dresser, to ensure that in spite of everything, the show goes on. For sixteen years Norman has been there to fix Sir’s wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and provide the sound effects in the storm scene.
Norman will be played by one of the UK’s most unique and best loved entertainers. Julian Clary’s successes include television, radio, films, writing and stand up comedy, which he has performed all over the world. His West End starring roles range from London Palladium pantomimes to Taboo .
Playing ‘Sir’ will be Matthew Kelly,winner of an Olivier Award for Of Mice and Men. His other West End credits include Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen, Comedians and Troilus and Cressida. His many television credits include the award-winning thriller Cold Blood, Benidorm, Bleak House and Moving On .
Ronald Harwood’s plays include Taking Sides, Equally Divided and Quartet. His screenplay for the film of The Dresser, received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Screenplay. He won an Academy Award for The Pianist .
Terry Johnson is the recipient of a dozen major theatre awards. His directing credits in Bath include Mrs. Henderson Presents, Hysteria and The Libertine .
“Riotously funny” Express
“A glorious play” Daily Telegraph
“Poignant, funny and utterly authentic” Mail on Sunday
“A hugely entertaining evening, rich in comic moments” Sunday Times
This production has been rescheduled from 21 – 26 September 2020. Tickets remain valid for the equivalent performances. Please see below for the new schedule and corresponding performances. Ticket holders are being contacted.
Monday – Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees Thursday & Saturday 2.30pm
Press Night Wednesday 15 September 2021 7pm
Tickets from £27
A booking fee of £1.75 per ticket applies
Full list of THE DRESSER performances, with corresponding rescheduled dates –
New performance – Thursday 9 September 2021, 7.30pm
New performance – Friday 10 September 2021, 7.30pm
New performance – Saturday 11 September 2021, 2.30pm
New performance – Saturday 11 September 2021, 7.30pm
Monday 21 September 2020, 7.30pm > Monday 13 September 2021, 7.30pm
Tuesday 22 September 2020, 7.30pm > Tuesday 14 September 2021, 7.30pm
Wednesday 23 September 2020, 7pm > Wednesday 15 September 2021, 7pm (press night)
Thursday 24 September 2020, 2.30pm > Thursday 16 September 2021, 2.30pm
Thursday 24 September 2020, 7.30pm > Thursday 16 September 2021, 7.30pm
Friday 25 September 2020, 7.30pm > Friday 17 September 2021, 7.30pm
Saturday 26 September 2020, 2.30pm > Saturday 18 September 2021, 2.30pm
Saturday 26 September 2020, 7.30pm > Saturday 18 September 2021, 7.30pm
Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Cheltenham Everyman Theatre present
JULIAN CLARY & MATTHEW KELLY in
THE DRESSER
by Ronald Harwood, directed by Terry Johnson
CAST
Julian Clary – Norman
Matthew Kelly – ‘Sir’
Emma Amos – ‘Her Ladyship’
Rebecca Charles – Madge
Natali Servat – Irene
Pip Donaghy – Geoffrey Thornton
Samuel Holmes – Mr Oxenby
Robert Shaw Cameron – Kent
Peter Yapp – Gloucester
Stephen Cavanagh – Albany
Claire Jeater – Ensemble
Michaela Bennison – Ensemble
Designer – Tim Shortall
Lighting Designer – Ben Ormerod
Sound Designer – John Leonard
Associate Director – Robert Shaw Cameron
Casting – Ginny Schiller CDG
One of the UK’s most unique and best loved entertainers, Julian Clary stars as Norman. Renowned for his many successes across television, radio, film, writing and stand-up comedy, he has performed across the world. His roles on stage include playing Leigh Bowery in Boy George’s Taboo in the West End and on national tour, including the Theatre Royal Bath in 2004; the Emcee in Rufus Norris’s Olivier Award winning production of Cabaret in the West End; and Le Grand Mort at London’s Trafalgar Studios. Julian also regularly performs in pantomime and will return to the London Palladium this Christmas. His many television credits include Trick or Treat, Saturday Night Live, Sticky Moments, Terry and Julian, All Rise, Strictly Come Dancing, Have I Got News For You and QI. He toured the UK earlier this year with his latest one-man comedy show Born To Mince.
Olivier Award winning actor Matthew Kelly stars as ‘Sir’. His West End credits include Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen and Roger Rees, Big The Musical at the Dominion Theatre, Funny Peculiar, Lend Me A Tenor!, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Sign of the Times and the role of Lennie in Of Mice and Men at the Savoy Theatre, for which he received the Olivier Award for Best Actor. His other recent theatre credits include Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, Troilus and Cressida at Shakespeare’s Globe and Pride and Prejudice at Regent’s Park and on UK tour, including Theatre Royal Bath in 2017. Matthew’s many television credits include the award-winning drama Cold Blood, Benidorm, Bleak House and Moving On, and as a presenter the hit television series You Bet! and Stars in their Eyes.
Emma Amos plays the role of Her Ladyship. On stage she has performed at the National Theatre, Almedia Theatre, London’s Old Vic, Chichester Festival Theatre, Royal Court and Donmar. Her television credits include Goodnight Sweetheart, Silent Witness, Poirot, Still Open All Hours, My Family and Heartbeat. Emma last appeared at the Theatre Royal Bath in The Lady in the Van in 2017.
Rebecca Charles, who plays the role of Madge, was last seen at Bath’s Theatre Royal in 2018 as The Countess of Basildon in An Ideal Husband. Three years earlier, she starred in The Father alongside Kenneth Cranham in the Main House in 2015, direct from a celebrated London run and, in 2014, at the Ustinov Studio where the show first opened. Her screen credits include Doctors, Casualty, The Bill, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Foyle’s War.
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Doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance, unless otherwise stated.
Tickets for Main House productions may include a £2.50 building levy.
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A booking fee of £2.50 per ticket applies to all bookings.
There is a lift for wheelchair users from the Theatre foyer to the Stalls and Royal Circle levels. The Dress Circle and Grand Circle are stair access only.
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