Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Everyman Theatre Cheltenham have confirmed new tour dates for the production.

Directed by Terry Johnson, The Dresser is set to open at Theatre Royal Bath on the 9th September 2021 before travelling to Cheltenham Everyman Theatre, Theatre Royal Brighton, Norwich Theatre Royal, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Richmond Theatre and Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Further dates have yet to be announced.

Ronald Harwood’s (Taking Sides, Equally Divided) play is inspired by memories of working as Donald Wolfit’s dresser as a young man and is set to star Julian Clary as Norman and Matthew Kelly as ‘Sir’.

It is 1942 and in a war-torn provincial theatre an aging actor-manager, known to his loyal acting company as ‘Sir’, is struggling to cling on to his sanity and complete his 227th performance of King Lear.  For 16 years Norman, Sir’s devoted dresser, 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. It is down to Norman to ensure that in spite of everything, the show goes on.

Julian Clary’s many stage roles includes: Leigh Bowery in Boy George’s Taboo (West End and national tour), the Emcee in Rufus Norris’s Olivier Award winning production of Cabaret (West End), and Le Grand Mort (Trafalgar Studios).

Matthew Kelly’s previous stage credits include: Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen and Roger Rees, Funny Peculiar, Sign of the Times, Lend Me A Tenor!, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and as Lennie in Of Mice and Men (Savoy) for which he received the Olivier Award for Best Actor.

The Dresser will begin performances at the Theatre Royal Bath on the 9th September.