New stage production alongside Matthew Kelly

Julian Clary is to star in a new production of The Dresser, playing the title role of an ageing actor's long-suffering personal assistant.

He follows in the footsteps of Tom Courteney, who played the role of Norman in the original 1980 West End production and on film, and Ian McKellen, who took the part in a 2015 TV version.

In the new version, Matthew Kelly will play the demanding thespian, known only as Sir.

Set in the dressing room of a provincial theatre in 1942, The Dresser was written by Ronald Harwood, based on his experiences as dresser to the noted Shakespearean actor Donald Wolfit. It is described as ‘an evocative, affectionate and hilarious portrait of backstage life’.

Michael Palin played Norman in a 1993 radio production, and Inside No 9’s Reece Shearsmith played him in the last stage version, directed by Sean Foley in 2016.

The new production will play at the Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Bath in September next year.

In a newspaper Q&A in March, Clary named The Dresser as his favourite play, adding: ‘I’d like to act in it one day.’

Published: 25 Oct 2019