It's the first major production of Ronald Harwood's backstage play since its debut in 1980 - this time directed by Sir Peter Hall who was in the first night audience. It's wartime Britain and Sir (we are never told his real name) is the last of the great actor-managers, leading his Shakespearean company triumphantly around regional theatres.
That's what he believes. In truth - as his wife so withering tells him in one of her put-downs - he's a third rate has-been who has great difficulty finding fellow actors to appear wih him. He's at the end of his career and declining fast and so much of the drama revolves around whether he will ever make it on to the stage at all. Simon Higlett's set beautifully captures the seedy backstage world. It moves effortlessly from Sir's star dressing room to the side of the stage and the stage itself. Julian Glover is Sir. He is well known from both the small and large screen - he was a memorable villian in the Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. It’s a spellbinding performance of a man who lives for the theatre and yet who can hardly summon the strength to go on stage. He is playing King Lear and acting like the King backstage; at times in total command and at other moments a simpering wreck.
 | | Nicholas Lyndhurst as Norman |
The story takes place backstage during a performance of Shakespeare's play and at its heart revolves around the relationships Sir has with his cast and company, principally his dresser. Nicholas Lyndhurst, best known as Rodney ("you plonker") Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, transforms into Norman the dresser. What a performance! It's a play which Lyndhurst always wanted to do. He's gently camp, insecure and devoted to Sir. He looks after his every whim, managing, despite the odds to get him on to the stage, yet harbours deep down resentment of his lot. It is compelling stuff. There are good performances too from Annabel Leventon as Her Ladyship and Liza Sadovy as the stage manager Madge who's secretly loved Sir from afar. As the evening unfolds we are drawn deeper and deeper into this claustrophobic world which lightens up in every sense as the cast go on stage. The contrast between the world behind the footlights and that behind the scenes is so well portrayed and strangely moving. But the play is also funny, rich in witty and often bitchy one-liners. Ronald Harwood even manages to get in a dig at critics: "I feel sorry for them," says Sir in a moment of rage. "Cripples…mentally deficient," he says. Thanks a lot!
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