The Dresser

The Dresser is a 1980 West End and Broadway play by Ronald Harwood, which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. Plot Harwood based the play on his experiences as dresser to English Shakespearean actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit, who is the model for the character "Sir" in the play. Stage productions UK The play was first presented on 6 March 1980 at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and transferred to the Queen's Theatre in London on 30 April 1980, with Freddie Jones as "Sir" and Tom Courtenay as Norman. The play was nominated for Best Play at the Society of West End Theatre Awards (now known as the Laurence Olivier Awards) for 1980. In 2016, a production directed by Sean Foley and starring Ken Stott and Reece Shearsmith played theatres including the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End.