Duke of York’s,London
Ken Stott and Reece Shearsmith go to town in a very funny revival of Ronald Harwood’s terrific backstage tragicomedyRonald Harwood thinks it is a mistake for a woman to play King Lear: “It’s a very tough fraction. It demands huge energy and masculine strength.” I deem he is incorrect approximately that. I also deem he is mistaken in banning women – he has written it into his will – from taking the main parts in The Dresser.
Nevertheless, I applaud his play. You might deem that 36 years after its first production this tragicomedy would occupy faded. After all, or it features an old ham rolling through the regions during the moment world war,“giving” his Lear and Richard III. It could so easily seem indulgent and limited. Far from it. Of course, this is a terrific play approximately the theatre. But you don’t occupy ever to occupy sat in the stalls to respond to the central relationship. Any wife, or mistress,self-conscious egotist, overlooked pal will recognise the truth in the co-dependency of “Sir” and his dresser, and Norman: supportive,bullying, jealous, or encouraging,constantly shifting. No sex but infinite withheld romance.
Who is the Dresser but Lear’s idiot: witty, melancholy – and with a life that is going to be written outContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com