CONTENTS

Synopsis

Character Notes

Cast & Crew Interviews

Ronald Harwood Richard Eyre Anthony Hopkins Ian McKellen Emily Watson Sarah Lancashire Edward Fox Vanessa Kirby Colin Callender Sonia Friedman Donal Woods Jenny Shircore Fotini Dimou

Adapting the play

Recreating the theatre

Casting

SYNOPSIS

One of the greatest portraits of life in the theatre, Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser has been adapted for television. The production brings Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins together on screen for the first time.

Reverting to Harwood’s original text, adapted for television and directed by Richard Eyre, the play tells the story of one fateful night in a small regional theatre during World War Two as a troupe of touring actors stage a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Bombs are falling, the sirens are wailing, the curtain is up in an hour but the actor/manager Sir (Hopkins) who is playing Lear is nowhere to be seen. His dresser Norman (McKellen) must scramble to keep the production alive, but will Sir turn up in time and if he does, will he be able to perform that night?

The Dresser is a wickedly funny and deeply moving story of friendship and loyalty as Sir reflects on his lifelong accomplishments and seeks to reconcile his turbulent friendships with those in his employ before the final curtain.

The Dresser is a Playground Entertainment and Sonia Friedman production in association with Altus Productions and Prescience. The executive producers are Colin Callender and Sonia Friedman, Polly Hill for the BBC and Tim Smith and Paul Brett for Prescience. The producer is Suzan Harrison.

The idea of the on screen revival came from Colin Callender and Sonia Friedman. Callender explains, “Sonia and I went to see Ronnie (Harwood) to say that we weren’t trying to remake the wonderful Peter Yates film but that we wanted to revisit the days of ‘Play for Today’. Single drama was the staple of the genre in those early golden days of television, with many writers and directors coming from the theatre. The genealogy of British television drama is the stage and so it’s a joy to revisit that and let writers, actors and directors embrace that and enjoy the work of great writing.”

CHARACTER NOTES

‘SIR’ PLAYED BY ANTHONY HOPKINS

Sir is the lead actor and manager of a regional touring theatre company who has spent his life performing Shakespeare. One fateful night in a small regional theatre during World War II as the troupe prepares for his 227th performance of King Lear, Sir is taken ill. As bombs fall and sirens wail Sir cannot remember his lines or even the play they are about to perform. His manic struggle to get ready for the stage gives him cause to reflect as he seeks to reconcile his relationships with those closest to him before the final curtain falls.

‘NORMAN’ PLAYED BY IAN MCKELLEN

Norman is Sir’s dresser, protector and confidant. A former play-as-cast actor, he was plucked from the wings by Sir, and has since spent his career solely in his service. He exults in his status as the man closest to Sir, which strains his relationship with the others in the company. When Sir is taken ill, it is Norman who steps into the breach to lead the company, and strives to get him on stage. He has given his life to Sir, a debt that can possibly never be repaid.

‘HER LADYSHIP’ PLAYED BY EMILY WATSON

Her Ladyship is Sir’s partner and a fellow member of the troupe, playing Cordelia in their production of King Lear. When Sir is taken ill, Her Ladyship’s appeals for him to retire cause a fissure between them that exposes years of regret, resentment and hurt that have been glossed over.

‘MADGE’ PLAYED BY SARAH LANCASHIRE

Madge is the Stage Manager for the company. Her cold, business-like demeanour belies a longstanding, unrequited love and devotion to Sir. More alike than they probably understand, Madge and Norman find themselves at odds, both suffering the truth of their feelings for Sir in silence.

‘IRENE’ PLAYED BY VANESSA KIRBY

Irene is an ambitious young actress in the company with a burning passion for the stage. Her determination to become the leading lady, and her infatuation with Sir, threatens to undermine Norman’s efforts to keep the company in order. He tries to hide Sir’s growing reciprocation of her attentions from Her Ladyship and Madge.

‘THORNTON’ PLAYED BY EDWARD FOX

Geoffrey Thornton is an older actor within the troupe who’s called upon to stand in as the part of the Fool, keen to use the opportunity to impress Sir. He is in many ways Sir without the title – also a stand in for those who make acting their life’s work, but never reach the heights of fame or notoriety.

RONALD HARWOOD (WRITER) INTERVIEW

Where did the idea for The Dresser come from? Well, I was at RADA, and after the first year my mother wrote to me from South Africa, where I was born, saying she could no long afford the fees. I had no money, I had nothing to do.

I heard that Donald Wolfit was starting a Shakespeare season at the King’s Theatre, Hammersmith. I wrote to him and he sent back a printed form saying his company was full. That evening I was having dinner with the only friend I had in London, a South African pianist called Lionel Bowman, who lived with a man who was the drama critic of The Stage newspaper. I told him I had my first rejection, he said, “Oh you fool, Wolfit’s a close friend of mine, I’ll write him a letter.” Wolfit saw me at the Waldorf Hotel, Aldwych, on a Sunday. I went to the appropriate rehearsal, and my first job was leading on Sir Lewis Casson. After a few weeks his dresser left and he’d taken a shine to me because I was very good on the storm. I was standing by the entrance to the stage from the dressing rooms, and Wolfit came down in his Lear makeup and all that, and he said, “Were you on the storm tonight?” I said, “Yes, I was, sir.” He said, “You’re an artist.” He then made me his dresser.

The role of the dresser, as we see very clearly in the story, is more than just an assistant. Oh you’re the guardian of the flame. I mean nobody can get to see him without coming through you, the dresser, because you know in what stage he’s dressing and all that. Even his business manager and his secretary had no access unless they asked me first. I had absolute control of his diary, as it were, during the show. We became very close. I loved being a dresser and I was a very good dresser, I didn’t feel belittled by being a servant, it was terrific.

So, at what point in your career did you think there’s something for me as a writer in this? Well [Harold] Pinter was a great influence on me because he had his first play done and it got dreadful reviews, called The Birthday Party. I met him one day in the street and we talked about it, and I thought you know, if Harold can do it, I can do it. I was out of work, my wife was pregnant and I sat down and wrote a novel about South Africa, an anti-apartheid novel, and I wrote it in three weeks. A friend came to dinner and said “what have you been doing?” I said “I’ve written a novel”, and he said “oh I know a publisher, let me show it to him.” He took the novel and he showed it to Jonathan Cape, he had a friend [who worked there], and they were a very distinguished publisher then, and the last book they’d published on South Africa was Cry, the Beloved Country. They took my book and it had wonderful reviews and I thought I was going to win the Nobel Prize the following week; I didn’t, but it was good fun.

It was after this when you wrote The Dresser? Yes. Wolfit left it in his will that he’d like me to do a biography of him, which I did. That was in ’68, so 12 years later I decided I might write the play. I was very reluctant because I couldn’t get Wolfit out of my mind and I thought, “Oh well to hell with it, I’ll just make it as I remembered it.”

Is Sir based on Wolfit? Wolfit never, ever didn’t want to go on stage, he loved acting. I remember once, in a play called The Wandering Jew he had a late entrance. The play began with his wife dying and the character that Wolfit was playing had gone out to find Jesus to see if he could get a quick cure. And Donald used to pace up and down in the wings while she was doing her acting. “I can’t live any longer. She won’t die tonight,” Donald used to say, “She won’t die tonight, get on with it.” He never was reluctant to go on stage. And so Sir in The Dresser is not as great an actor, but he has one great part and that’s King Lear, which is the production I deal with in the play.

Tell us about the parallels between King Lear and Sir/The Dresser? The bombing is the storm, and the women have corresponding roles in the Shakespeare play. I didn’t write it in parallels, as it were, they emerged and a critic pointed them out to me. I was both flattered and surprised because I hadn’t been conscious of doing that. I’m not a literary gentleman; I’m a theatrical gentleman, so I just wrote the play.

One of the great things that shines through the play is your love of theatre and an interest in actors. I've always been interested in performers, I think they have a terrible life, especially if they're not at the top of their professions, and it fascinates me that they survive, go on acting, find jobs, do things that are related but they are always devoted to their theatrical roots.

The Dresser has been described as a thriller… Yes it's a “show must go on” story, at heart, that's what it is and critics have been very interesting over the years. An American critic said it's really about a Jewish mother getting a child to behave, the Jewish mother being Norman and I've always thought that was a wonderful interpretation.

If Sir has elements of Wolfit, does Norman have elements of you? No [LAUGHS]. I keep telling people it's nothing to do with me! I'll tell you who it had to do with, he can't be still alive. Well I'll tell you who it was who did help, Paul Schofield was in a play of mine and he had a dresser who was the campest thing on two legs. Tom Courtenay had one when he did the play who was terribly camp.

Why did you agree to this production? I resisted it, I have to confess, because I wanted it done in the theatre again. [Anthony] Hopkins wouldn't do it in the theatre and I don't think Ian [McKellen] would've done it in the theatre. I talked to a friend one day when we were having lunch and I told him, “I'm not gonna have it done.” He said, “Are you insane? It'll be a terrific event.” And that, sort of, persuaded me, and so I said yes.

Richard Eyre adapted your play? Yeah! I had done the screen play for the first film and I didn't want to. I didn't want to adapt. It's 35 years ago I wrote it and I didn't want to go back. So, I left them to it and Richard's done a wonderful job. I knew Richard had been Director of the National Theatre so, I presumed he loved the theatre.

He did a very respectful and very, very, brilliant job of it.

What do you hope the new generation will take away from this production? I just hope they enjoy it. I don't have fanciful hopes, I just think well here's a play, it's about actors, I hope they find that interesting and enjoyable.

Ends. RICHARD EYRE (DIRECTOR) INTERVIEW

What made you want to get involved in this production of The Dresser? I was approached by executive producer Colin Callender and asked if I would like to make a film of Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser which I knew well as a play and I knew also from the film with Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. He said “It’s Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen” - so it took more or less a second to say yes. My only condition was that I would like to do an adaptation. I said I’m not going to rewrite the dialogue but if it’s to work at all as a television piece, it’s got to have cinematic quality. We’ve got to break it down and find a way of keeping the momentum of the story in cinematic terms because theatre is a very different thing.

So as you approached that adaptation what did you find you needed and wanted to do? I had to do some editing mostly to do with staging. Whereas the play is almost entirely set in a dressing room, I had to think, “How is it possible to get out of the room?” There's the stage door, the stage itself, there's the auditorium, there's the wings, and there are corridors and staircases. I had a kind of portfolio of locations so that you never felt, or I hope you never feel, that you’ve been kidnapped and held hostage within this single room.

Tell us about the story. It’s a mistake to think of the piece as a piece that is purely about the theatre and about the process of acting. Making up and costume and the life within a theatre is the most interesting thing about it. I take the life of theatre for granted. It’s how I’ve earned my living for the last 50 years with the odd excursion into films, television and opera. The Dresser is much more a parallel story to the story of King Lear. It’s about mortality, this is a story of a guy who is collapsing and who senses at some stage that his life is running out and that he's spent it possibly worthlessly - so there is the question of whether being an actor, or being anything, adds up to something if you’ve sacrificed all your relationships for the sake of being the custodian of a talent, which at best is questionable. It’s about how you face the end and how you have the courage to endure over adversity.

It’s a look into the world of actors who you’ve lived with all of your life. I’m fascinated by the paradoxes of acting. The fact that you have to be conscious of yourself, know what you're doing and yet it’s fatal for an actor to be self-conscious. Actors need to have a sort of third eye on what they're doing so they're thinking, “Well I’m putting my hand down there and putting the other there,” and yet the job is to simulate complete spontaneity. When the camera is running it has to appear spontaneous and that requires mostly intense skill, experience, nerve and talent. I was an actor and I stopped doing it precisely because the monitoring device that says you're not doing that very well became stronger than the will and the ability to do the thing I was monitoring.

How is it working with Anthony and Ian? I’ve known Tony for 30-35 years socially and I’ve known Ian for longer. These are really, really outstanding actors. They're absolutely the top of the game. So the job is not saying, “you can do that better” – although having said that I did say that this morning in exactly those words! But it’s seeing these are very imaginative, very intelligent people who think a great deal about what they're doing. I’m acting like an audience. I’m trying to bring something out that they’ve suggested and occasionally, I’m doing what a conductor might do.

Tell us about that and Sir and Norman relationship. The Dresser is an archetypal relationship. You know, master servant. They're mutually dependent. In the case of the dresser, he's like the Fool in Lear. Lear demands the presence of the Fool because in the sense his life is mirrored by the Fool, and the Fool highlights his follies and advises him and that’s very much the relationship, the dresser Norman to Sir.

Tell us about the cast and crew? There is a wonderful cast; Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire, Edward Fox, Tom Brooke, Vanessa Kirby. They are really outstanding actors and the actors in the smaller parts who appear on stage are all actors I’ve worked with. It’s very important to me that there is a sense of company and a sense of common aim and ambition for the project and that’s quite difficult to achieve in film. It’s perfectly possible to make a film where the make-up department never speaks to the costume department and the camera department is completely autonomous and so on.

In fine Shakespearean tradition of a play within a play you’re asking Anthony to give a performance as Sir and as Sir giving his Lear. It’s a Lear of great intensity. One of the difficult things is to decide on the degree of quality of the performance. I don’t want to alienate our audience by having an actor come on and do a lot of barnstorming! It’s got to be carefully calibrated in that it has to be a truthful Lear that is slightly notched up but it has to be affecting, it has to be a plausible performance of King Lear rather than a pastiche performance or a parody.

You talk about Sir and the dilapidation of his mind; you are also showing us the dilapidation of the theatre in this very specific period. What does setting it in that period add to it? You’ve got to honour the period but the truth is that theatre’s back stages haven’t changed much in 60 or 70 years. Of course if you have money to spend on the theatre, you spend it on front of house carpets, and new seats and bars, you don’t spend it on doing up the dressing rooms.

What’s in this particular production for a modern audience? I’d like people not to think of this as a quaint story of theatre folk but think of it as a number of people with complicated relationships who are trying to live their lives and in the case of Sir, live out his life with some sort of going not ‘gently into that good night’. So I’d like people to be affected by the film, to find it funny, to find it touching and to find it interesting that it accurately portrays a world which very few people know about.

Ends.

ANTHONY HOPKINS (SIR) INTERVIEW

What kind of a Lear are you and Richard going to give us? I played it once some years ago and I think I was all right but I'm older now - I've watched various interpretations of Lear. I saw Bosco as Lear, saw Olivier's Lear, Ian's Lear. I think you can be too clever analysing it and finding new ways to do it. I want to play him as a ferocious, ferocious man. Instead of analysing it - just go all out for it and then during the rehearsal, or the filming, just see, but just to go all out, to not be afraid.

That's why I think actors get frightened because the critics are always there to tear you to pieces. But I say screw 'em. Go out all out and if they say it's over the top, so what? Dare - like sky diving, those wing guys, just do it. Don't question it, just do it. That's how I've lived my life. So it's an affirmation from my life, just do the damn thing, stop questioning it. Stop worrying about what they think. So that's the core of my Lear - not to slow it down but to be a savage, like a wolf. "You ain't seen nothing yet kid!” That's the Lear I want to do. If I ever did Lear again, that's the way I would play it.

Not only is it an acting masterclass, it’s a make-up masterclass… We did a test on the first day before we started filming. We took these sticks and I remember plastering them on my face and it all came back to me. I thought it's all coming back and I could see the cheekbones and then I had to wrinkle my brows and smear the white over as highlights and I'd look in the mirror and think, "Ah that's it, that's it," and it all came back. You put on the mask. I think that’s what happens with Sir, he has worn a mask all his life.

At one point, just before the end, Sir takes half the mask off and that's when he begins to deteriorate because of removing the mask. He knows his lady wife, she's finished with him, she can't take any more and he knows his life is over. Without her, Sir is in the dark and he has to give up. He takes the final part of the mask off and then he dies because he removed the mask - like Marcel Marceau - trying to remove the smiling mask - that's a pretty powerful image. We all have masks - but the actor has many masks.

Does the set feel true to you? Oh yes. This is Nottingham, a certain day in 1941, during a bombing raid. This is what it was like, especially the touring places. The smell of urine, dirty sanitation, stale coffee, sandwich from the pub and the dread of going on a matinee and an evening performance.

I remember going to see a friend of mine in the theatre some years ago at the Haymarket and he was in this play. I went round at the matinee and knocked at the door. He said, "Come in." I said, "How are you doing?" He said, "Oh God." "Have you got another one tonight?" "Oh God, yeah. Why do we do it?" And that's the bit - why did we do it?! Like Judi Dench said, the best part of getting a job is getting the phone call.

That's one of the joys about this production - it's taking us away from the glitter of what we, the audience, see and into this back stage world. As Sir says at the end of this play, "Oh Norman, I'm sick of your friends, motley crew they are. Desperate, pathetic, lonely." If you're not careful - you have to find a life outside. Now Edward Fox who plays the part [of Thornton] in the play – his character has a life outside. He said, "I never really wanted to scale the heights, I am quite happy - country walks with my wife. She gets a little bit of money from piano, singing lessons." And Sir's listening to it and thinking, "God, what have I done with my life? This man has at least lived, I've had no life." I think that's the fascination for me.

Surely there is a joy in the performance? Yes, there is. I don't like weekends because I'm enjoying this so much! I know it's not the stage, but I want to come here because I'm enjoying it so much, there's something in it. There's something inside that thinks more, more, more. I wasn't happy in the theatre. I think because starting off I was playing small parts - no actor wants to play small parts, he wants the big parts. I did a play called Pravda with David Hare and that was a great part to play. In those days I just felt these are proper actors, Judi Dench and Michael Brandon - what am I doing here?

For those of us who've loved you in film we are very glad you made that decision, but it's great to see you back in the theatre. It's wonderful, it's like coming back in a way because this is a great part to play. It's the best thing I've been involved in in a long, long time - 20 odd years. I've done some things I've enjoyed in film but this is wonderful.

Ends. IAN MCKELLEN (NORMAN/THE DRESSER) INTERVIEW What made you agree to this project? I'd seen the original production on stage when it reached London from Manchester and the subject of the film I had enjoyed. I'd been asked to play Sir in other productions numerous times, and thought well that play's been done really and successfully and it doesn't need doing again. Although Ronnie Harwood tells me that there hasn't been a week since it was written when it hasn't been on some stage somewhere in the world. The offer to play Norman, the dresser, was preceded by the suggestion that I should work with Anthony Hopkins for the first time and I think whatever the project had been, I would have been inclined to say yes for that reason.

It's the most beautifully constructed play. It appeals to actors because it's about our lives. It's a slight exaggeration but not much. I mean the room I'm sitting in now is not a room of course it's a set in a studio but I don't know if you can see the WC behind me, that was my suggestion because I remember going to a theatre in my home town in Bolton in Lancashire, North of England to a variety theatre where there where different turns each week and in the corner of the number one dressing room there was a lavatory. So I liked that, it feels like home. It's been a job without compare.

Tell us about the role of the dresser? The best dressers accommodate you and know as Norman does, when to speak and when not to. If you're getting ready, that's a very personal individual thing, and even though the dresser is there to accommodate you in every way possible, it is a little journey you're going on. He's not going to come on stage with you, but he's going to be the welcome when you come back and just getting that right is not easy. It’s like this; you say to your dresser one day, “oh I'd love an orange” and if he's good, ten minutes later, there'll be an orange on your plate. The next day he'll say “Do you want an orange?” and you'll say “yes” and he's got one already for you. Then without saying every, day there'll be an orange. One day you'll go in and you'll think, “I'd kill for a pear,” and you'd say “Jimmy have you got a pear?” and without you noticing there's a fruit bowl arrived with pears and apples and bananas just in case one day you didn't want the orange. Well you can't beat that for service can you?!

Who is Norman and what's going on in his life? Very cunningly Ronald Harwood reveals his characters in what they say and what they remember. Norman is given plenty of opportunity to talk about his past. His past seems to have involved some sort of illness, mental illness and he was put away somewhere undefined, away from everything and his escape was to the theatre. He is now, perhaps because of his illness, not working any more as an actor but as a dresser. It means he's very sympathetic to the problems of being an actor, even a leading actor like Sir. I don't find much difficulty in landing very firmly in a world that I believe in.

Norman is an amalgamation, I see in him, of some dressers that I've had and I've introduced some characteristics even of my current dresser, John, he doesn't know I've picked up one of his little habits which was to tap me rather reassuringly when he's finished just getting me ready for camera. He gives me a little tap of approval, job well done, which infuriates the hell out of me. But I, [LAUGHS] I do it to Tony Hopkins, that's my revenge!

What happens during the night of the play? Sir has had some sort of a collapse, literally in a public place so his vulnerability shows through and people are embarrassed by his behaviour. The dresser chances on him in the square and takes him to the hospital thinking he needs help. With the help, or lack of it from other people around, like the stage manager and Her Ladyship, the leading lady of the company, Norman manages to get Sir back onto some sort of track and pushes him along it until he's tipped out onto the stage.

How have you and Anthony come from two completely different viewpoints to meet in the middle in what seems to be one of the most enjoyable projects you've both had? I think Tony's enjoyed it because he's come home. He's pretty adamant about not doing live performance any more. He is fighting fit and could easily do eight performances a week on stage. His voice is in fine full throated quality. The theatre means a great deal to him of course, it's where he began, it's where he had his early, huge successes and he's denied himself and the rest of us the chance of going on seeing him be as brilliant as he was in Pravda and King Lear and Antony [and Cleopatra] and other parts that I saw him do in the early days.

What we do share, is that work seems to take up the same amount of his energy and passion as it does in my life for me. We both have other things, relationships and so on, which are very important but I don't think Anthony could imagine himself not acting, and that's true of me. It's how I define myself and I think he does too. Although of course he's an amateur painter and composer, traveller and story teller, raconteur. He could go out on the stage and just tell stories.

The performance of King Lear, of course is crucial in this story. In the tradition of classical acting in the United Kingdom, if you live long enough, King Lear is almost inevitable as Hamlet is at the beginning of your career. I think the beauty about King Lear is that anyone who has been around old people, or is beginning to feel old themselves, whether that's a positive feeling or negative, can connect and engage with King Lear because it's a study in old age. But a particular old man and, in defining that particularity, so one Lear will be different from another.

How is it working with Richard Eyre? He's on our side, he's not a tyrant shouting out the orders, he's a friend guiding you through - that's his main quality. I've enjoyed working with him on quite a few plays. He's an intellectual, he can talk about what a play means as well as how it works and a screen play too. So in total confidence I daily say to Richard “what do you think of this?” and if he smiles and says “yes,” I'm gratified to have his approval, and if he smiles and says “no” I think well god I made a lucky escape there. Richard will guide you through.

You and Anthony seem to enjoy carrying on the tradition of re-telling stories… Tony has this remarkable memory for detail and exactitude and will tell you as story that you would swear he had been telling for thirty years but he had not, he has just remembered something, he's told you it. Often about his career and a career in the theatre when he sat at the feet as I did of Lawrence Olivier and Ralph Richardson and Alan Badel and John Gielgud and women too, Sybil Thorndike and Celia Johnson, Peggy Ashcroft.

What is it about The Dresser that continues to be relevant? The dialogue is so accurate and believable and varied and unpretentious in that it sounds like real people. Under the utmost pressure so Richard Eyre calls it a thriller, it's a story of bravery and of honour. It’s a story dealing with the best side of human nature even if people are not behaving very well they have their reasons. You don't know what's going to happen next or what's going to be said next, or who's going to upset who. It is the back stage story.

Ends. ANTHONY HOPKINS AND IAN MCKELLEN INTERVIEW

Ian, you described this script as a carriage, it carries you along. IMK: Yes, it’s very cunningly written. The structure is absolutely rock solid, the information is leaked out the way you want it, the preparation for Sir’s entrance into the story, it’s a classic piece of exciting build up, and preparation.

Everyone is genuinely enjoying being part of The Dresser. What particularly are you two enjoying about it? AH: Ian and I have known each other over the years - we were at the National Theatre together but not in the same company. I saw a number of his productions, I saw his Hamlet at the Cambridge Theatre. I saw his Iago in October 1989, Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi, and I’ve always been a great admirer. We met in California, by accident, he was there doing Lear and I was staying at the Westwood. As I was driving back, I remember thinking, “I’ll work with him one day.”

IMK: I don’t know quite when, you would remember perhaps, but when Richard Eyre’s production of Richard III at the National Theatre that I was in was turned into a film, by me, I wrote the screenplay, Richard Eyre couldn’t direct it because he was busy running the National Theatre. I was heavily involved in casting it, and I contacted you, and said would you come and play the Duke of Buckingham, to my Richard III. You replied instantly, “No, no more Shakespeare in my life, ever.” And about, a year later you filmed Titus Andronicus, and I thought the bugger! (Laughs)

AH: Now I’ve settled into old age, my own insecurities don’t bother me, I think to hell with it that’s the way it is. I feel more solid and stronger, because I’m not worried about my insecurities as an actor, and then working with Ian has been the best memory, the best, most powerful acting experience I’ve had in many, many years. It’s a sheer pleasure, working with him because he’s a great actor.

IMK: I’ve always looked at you from a distance, admiring and wondering and when you’ve had your big successes in films, I’ve just thought, well he’s gone from me, he’s in a world I don’t understand, and he’s doing work and I don’t know how he does it. And now here you are, you’re this Welsh wizard…

AH: This Welsh wizard working with you, and it is amazing.

IMK: And our girls, our women, aren’t they sensational…

AH: Extraordinary, Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire, Edward Fox, Vanessa Kirby, extraordinary talents, and all so pleasant, pleasant, pleasant, professional and dedicated.

IMK: Well they’re all pleased, they’re all thrilled to see you…

AH: Yes, and you!

IMK: No, no, well they see me all the time, I’m always knocking around (laugh) but, I think we’ve got to get you back to London theatreland, even if it’s just a question of going and looking at a few plays, not being in them necessarily…

AH: Yes, well next time I come back I will…you never know, life is so uncanny.

Ends.

EMILY WATSON (HER LADYSHIP) INTERVIEW

What attracted you to the project? Well, it’s the look obviously. I feel I was getting to a point in my career where I was just playing old bags and I fancied a bit of a princess. I’m auditioning for the live action Frozen, I think is my next move! I’d never seen the stage play, I’d seen the film. It was when I got to the page where it said ‘Her Ladyship’ calls Anthony Hopkins ‘Bonzo’ and he calls her ‘Pussy’ and I thought “I have to do this”.

For those who haven’t seen it, what’s going on? Who is Her Ladyship? Her Ladyship is the squeeze of the actor-manager. She’s been playing his leading ladies and she’s still playing Cordelia 20 years on. She’s been playing Cordelia since her mid-20’s, she’s now in her mid- 40’s and he’s kind of had it. Over the course of this day, [Sir] has lost the plot, had some kind of breakdown and then they’re all terrified, they don’t know what’s happened, he turns up at the theatre and all hell lets loose. They have the most God almighty row, he goes on and plays Lear and it’s a wonderful love letter/hate letter to theatre.

Tell us about a dresser and his or her importance? In something like a play like Lear, it’s quite a complex job but it’s much more than that. It can be someone who’s very devotional and has that sense they would lay down their life for their actor. They’re fiercely protective of them and feel that they are pivotal and controlling in a sense, in the building, in the politics and hierarchy of everything they are right at the epicentre of power and so for him [Norman] and Her Ladyship there is a bit of a battle.

How do Her Ladyship and Norman get on? It’s complicated. I don’t think they really get on but they have to form alliances, they have to work together to manipulate Sir into doing or not doing what they want so they’ve known each other for a very long time.

We have a play within a play in The Dresser, explain to us a bit about the two stories? Well the actor sees himself as one of the great actor-managers who leads a company and they do the full repertoire of Shakespeare and they take them around the country. He’s giving his Lear today and this morning he’s woken up and he’s had a breakdown. There’s an air raid going on and the dresser has chased him around the town and he’s [Sir] gone to hospital.

They’ve never had to cancel and she sees her life, which has been 20 years of living with this man and following him round the country and always being in his shadow and never being a good as him, fracturing before her eyes. She really wants to bring it all to an end so that she can escape and the dresser wants it all to carry on as if nothing has happened. Suddenly, he [Sir] turns up mad as the sea and wind and insists on going on, it looks like he’s not going to make it - and then gives the performance of his life.

What was it like working with Anthony and Ian? It’s a daily, kind of, ‘pinch yourself’ situation; I can’t quite believe I’m here doing this. I spent the last two days doing a long scene with Anthony where we have the stand-up marital row to end all stand- up marital rows and we’re going at it hammer and tongs and I’m, just occasionally, inwardly checking myself. Particularly watching Ian because of the nature of the part he’s playing, the meticulousness with which he approaches every single detail. His attention to detail is extraordinary and his work with the props is beautiful.

What do you think Richard Eyre brings to the job as the director? A sense of where you utterly trust what’s happening [and] you completely trust the other actors around you. I have a range of very instinctive camera skills, I’ve done theatre and I love theatre but it’s not something I’ve done a lot of. There are certain parts where I felt a little bit ‘argh’, I’m not quite sure how to ride this bit or get through this and just felt his complete surety with that and in a way the sort of technical side of that – how to deliver things – which has been wonderful.

Tell us about your memories of the theatre when you first started? I started out as a ‘spear carrier’ at Stratford and I remember walking onto this set and just going “oh my God”. I remember standing in those corridors and putting my face against the wall feeling the cold and just loving it and the smell of it. The set they’ve created for the dressing room is exquisite and for an actor, it feels like a hallowed space, it really feels special.

What’s the appeal of The Dresser for a more modern audience? It’s the ‘behind closed doors’ of being an actor that has such an appeal, I don’t think that’s an old- fashioned thing. The smell of disaster backstage is just delicious.

Ends.

SARAH LANCASHIRE (MADGE) INTERVIEW

Tell me a little bit about what you knew of The Dresser? I didn't see the stage play but I'd seen the film a number of times and it’s a beautiful, beautiful piece.

Had you worked with any of the team before? Richard and I have worked together before, about five years ago. I've never worked with Ian and Tony but they're extraordinary and it's a privilege just to stand and watch and see this, feels like a little bit of history in the making to be honest. We had two weeks in a rehearsal room before we hit the stage and just being able to sit there and watch these extraordinary talents was pretty breath- taking really.

For those who don't know the story, what is The Dresser is about? Norman's the dresser and Norman has been with Sir for many, many years. On this particular day, Sir is not well, he's been into hospital, he's come out of hospital, he's come to the theatre he's ready to perform, and he's not well enough. But he decides to do the performance anyway and of all performances it's King Lear. Norman helps him through it, my character, Madge, doesn't particularly want him to do the performance; she doesn't think he's well enough. Watching Norman and Sir, you realise it's possibly the greatest love story ever - it's an extraordinary coupling.

Tell us a little bit about Madge and where she sits within the story? Madge is responsible for the show when it's up and running and for the decision as to whether the show should run. She's really overruled by Norman and Sir, she has his best interests at heart because she can see that he's not well. Madge has been with them for a very, very long time - she probably serves as Company Manager when they're moving from theatre to theatre on a Sunday. She's quite a sad character, there's a well of disappointment, bitterness, resentment and loneliness because she has been in love with Sir for 20-30 years unrequited.

And as you say, the Norman/Sir relationship is one of the great love stories… Madge and Norman don't get on. Norman has what Madge would like and that's Sir, and Norman is very good at not letting her in to that inner sanctum and so you realise very early on that there really is no relationship there.

How true does it feel? How much does it resonate with your experience in theatre? As an actor I think it's the greatest piece ever written about actors. It is such an emotionally driven piece and you see exactly what makes actors tick and the need to get on the stage, especially in this instance when the stakes are so high and he [Sir] is so ill.

But it just makes that world feel very accessible to people who are not in the theatre and you really see how it works, where the loyalties lie like just this extraordinary inner strength which is needed for him to get on the stage. Also the way Norman beautifully just compels him to, even just to get him through the half in order to get him on the stage and metaphorically holds his hand all the way through. It's so beautifully, beautifully done, it is a great, great love story.

What has it been like working with Anthony and Ian? It's extraordinary. You are acutely aware that you're watching two of the greatest actors ever. When you watch them you realise why, so just to be in that close proximity, just to see how these characters coming to life immediately, and they are living them, it's incredible. It's essentially a two- hander, but it is seeing how they work together is what is quite extraordinary. It is quite unlike any other relationship that I've ever seen - because of the nature of the characters.

It's a period piece but is a dresser still an important person in the theatre? They're very, very important people in the theatre. You rely very heavily on your dresser. They literally know what you're doing and where you're supposed to be at exactly the right time and they literally grab you and pull you and rip clothes off you and put them on and point you in the right direction. There are people who carry the same dresser right th a career because they are very sought after.

If Madge is resentful of Norman, how does she feel about Her Ladyship? Oh she's very tolerant. Madge knows her place. Madge knows that there would never have been any possibility. They may have been a very fleeting liaison between her and Sir 30 years ago when Madge maybe had a little bit of something to offer, but unfortunately she's had to stand back and watch streams of women come through the company and with Sir attracted to them, so Madge is very much on the outside looking in.

Ends.

EDWARD FOX (THORNTON) INTERVIEW

When did you first get involved in The Dresser? I saw it when it was first produced in Manchester, but I wasn’t involved with it then. I saw Tom [Courtenay] do it, then Freddie Jones and then they went to the Queens Theatre. But then there was this film later with Albert [Finney] and Tom and Eileen [Atkins] and Mick Gough and Lockwood West, all such people. But that’s quite a long time ago. I played Oxenby in that film.

Tell us about your character, Thornton? Thornton is as he describes himself, an actor who’s never really dared to take on the big heroic parts, probably because he’s not suited to them. He admits that he’s played it a bit safe. But this night, he realised that he had a bit more in him than just playing it safe, and it is what the theatre can do, certainly for actors, it can make them say, well I thought I couldn’t do something, but actually, do you know, I can.

So here’s Thornton finally stepping up, while on the other hand, we see Sir wrestling with whether he can go on stage. That’s exactly right. Sir has a nervous collapse, and his courage has left him, which is all anybody needs is courage and it’s serious for him. For Thornton, who’s been shoved into a much more important role than he’s usually used to being asked to play, he thinks, “Am I going to be able to manage this?” Both of them are up against what the theatre requirement is, which is to get on the stage and to play your part. But that requires... I think there’s only one word for it, courage.

So Thornton is going to step up. What’s Thornton’s relationship like with Sir? Well in days that I remember, one was so in awe of the older, very celebrated star, brilliant actor, that there was much more, not subservience, but respectfulness. You would call Dame Edith, Dame Edith. You’d call Laurence Sir Laurence, you know what I mean? I think Thornton, although he’d be the same age as Sir, he would defer to Sir’s theatrical importance in the most polite and normal respectful way.

How has working with Anthony and Ian been? Oh lovely, because I’ve known Anthony a long time. I haven’t known Ian so well, but I’ve known him over the years. When everybody’s been around for as long as they have, and they’re joined together on a venture like this, they’re so professional that you go to work like a clockwork team.

After playing Oxenby in the film, do you feel proprietorial about the character - have you been looking over Tom Brooke’s shoulder?! No [LAUGHS]. No, he’s going to be wonderful. He’s so menacing too.

The Dresser is set in 1941 in a type of theatre that has gone now. Has that been enjoyable, visiting a world that you knew about from older actors as you were starting? Yes, there was a great accent on Shakespeare, playing Shakespeare rightly, I think that pertains today too, which is right. Shakespeare’s so easy in a way – you only have to learn how to say lines clearly, understandably with some poetry. The demands are considerable but once you’ve mastered technical requirements about Shakespeare, he’s done it for you. I’ve played Hamlet three times, as long as you can find out how to get hold of all that person, the older you get, the more you think how terrible I was when I was young, I only wish I could play it now because I begin to think, yes I probably could play that [LAUGHS]. Too late!

What is Thornton like in King Lear? I’ve wanted him to be, and Richard likes him to be a real clown fool. Really as if he’s stepped out of the Commedia Dell’arte, or even further back, Greek theatre.

Have you worked with Richard Eyre before? Yes, in a film called Stage Beauty. But he’s enjoying this. It’s really his meat. Yes, it’s much more based on Ronnie’s play. Peter Yates’s film was a real screenplay, it’s a much richer script, this one.

Ends. VANESSA KIRBY (IRENE) INTERVIEW

What were your initial thoughts when the part of Irene came your way? My agent rang me and said, “So I’ve got this offer for you, you might be interested,” being sarcastic. Then he said, “Richard’s doing it and it’s Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen.” I was completely blown away. I love Irene, because she reminds me of every actress I’ve ever known in the beginning of their career. I imagine every actor has considered those things and stayed up all night worrying about what it is to be an actor, why do we do what we do, and what do we lose, what’s the cost of doing that and why?

Tell us about Irene? Irene plays the map bearer / pageboy [in King Lear], she’s a very young actress who is desperate to be Cordelia, and she has admired Sir her whole life and it’s a dream come true to be in his company. She can’t believe that Her Ladyship, played by Emily Watson, is playing Cordelia because she thinks she should be. It’s been a lot of fun, getting daggers from Emily Watson’s character!

What are your thoughts on the Sir/dresser relationship? Well the dresser and Sir have learnt to live together. It’s the most beautiful kind of amazing relationship they have because there’s so much love there and yet it’s a sort of unspoken, unconditional love between them and they almost can’t live without each other. I feel that the love for Norman is almost beyond even talking about it, he discusses it with Her Ladyship and Madge in the play but Norman never really gets recognition from Sir.

Have you enjoyed the make-up masterclass that everyone is talking about? Yeah it was really interesting, because Irene appears at the beginning with all her hair down and in a dress, and changes straight away into the pageboy, so we were looking for how they would have made a girl look like a boy. Jenny [Shircore] literally puts on the makeup with her fingers so she does it exactly how they would have done it, it was actually really fun to explore how far we could go either way, we just wanted it to look as neutral as possible.

Richard is one of the greatest theatre directors, what’s the experience of coming to work with him on this? Richard trusts actors so much and it’s so amazing to know that he trusts you to do it. When he directs he kind of just gives tiny directions that move, shift the whole scene, he’s so clever, but you know it just feels like all of them, Anthony, Richard, Edward, Ian, they are so experienced, they so know what they’re doing that there’s just no fuss, no stress, everybody’s having such a lovely time that it feels like a little family, and I feel so lucky to be a part of that.

Are you enjoying working with Anthony and Ian? For me it’s not hard feeling completely in awe when I’m acting with Tony to be honest, it’s really not hard. There was this scene that we have together where Irene finally, finally gets this moment alone, I feel like she’s been building up to this for weeks, you know when Norman’s out the room she’s timed it exactly so she can slip in with the crown and have just five minutes with Sir, she plucks up the courage finally to say, “I just wanted to thank you for the performance this evening…” I felt honoured to be on the stage standing in front of him.

Anthony is the most generous, kind, open, supportive actor I could ever hope to be inspired by. I was really nervous when I first met him because I had no idea, but he’s just so kind and brilliant. I’ve watched him my whole life and working with him is a dream come true. Ian is so playful and amazing and kind and he’s got such a twinkle in his eye, but you can see that in all his performances.

I asked Tony the other day, I said, “Tony, what’s been your happiest time on a film set?” and he went “This one.” I was so, just so happy when he said that, and I went “Really?” and he said, “Well no, the last time I was this happy was on Silence of the Lambs!”

What do you think there is for a modern audience in this story? I think the performance that Tony is giving is just the most incredible thing, so it would be so exciting for anybody to see him playing a role where it’s looking at his career in a sense, and why he is one of our beloved and best actors of our country.

Ends.

COLIN CALLENDER (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) INTERVIEW

How did you get involved? Sonia Friedman was producing this as a play and we decided that we'd produce it together and the first actor we thought about to play Sir was Anthony Hopkins. I had worked with Anthony years back and flew out to LA to sit down and to meet him for breakfast. The first thing he said to me is, "I'm not gonna do it for the stage, but I will do for television." That's why we're here.

Was it difficult to persuade everyone to be involved in this type of performance and production of The Dresser? Sonia and I went to see Ronnie [Harwood] to say that we weren't trying to re-make the wonderful Peter Yates film that had been made many years ago. What we wanted to do was re-visit the days of ‘Play for Today’ and to embrace the text and produce a film that was actually based on the play itself, rather than opening it up as a film.

How do we see this production evolve from previous versions? Richard Eyre brought two wonderful things to this production. Firstly, he saw it as a thriller. He loved the idea that the play opened or the film opens and it's about a play that's about to happen in an hour and the leading actor isn't there. So will he or won't he turn up and when the leading actor does turn up will he or won't he be able to remember his lines and go on stage? Richard has embraced that thriller element, that sense of a ticking clock and made it a lot of fun. What's really extraordinarily moving about this is he's grounded the play in a real place with real people. Even though they're actors and even though they're playing actors, it's a slightly romanticised sense of a world gone by in the theatre, the characters themselves are very real and heartbreakingly so. Richard's determination to keep those characters grounded is what makes this particular production so powerful.

You've achieved a very impressive feat in getting these great knights together to do this project. Tony's been passionate about this since day one, and it's actually partly his passion and his commitment to this that has enabled it to happen. He and Ian McKellen had never worked together before on film. They have enormous respect for each other. They trust the text and they are able to throw themselves into the roles. There's something very, very, poignant about the relationship between these two men of similar age in the film and that's a different dynamic to the one that we've seen in other productions.

Tell us a about the relationship between the dresser and his or her actor? Some of the most engaging films and televisions dramas take you behind the scenes into a world where the audience normally doesn't get to see. So that idea of peeling back the veil, on a sort of hidden private world, I think is something that's very appealing to an audience and certainly is true here. The other thing I think that's very interesting about this play is that a character who's normally in the wings, a character who's normally a secondary or tertiary character is put centre stage. The dresser would normally be a character who would pass through the frame in the background, but in this play, he's centre stage. It is very touching.

The story is set during the Blitz. What does that add to the story? Setting the play against the Second World War and the blitz, heightens one of the central questions that the character of Sir, is asking himself because he's coming towards the end of his life and he's really asking himself, what's been the value of my work?” What has it all added up to and what's the meaning of it and does it matter if I go on stage yet? Somehow asking that question in the context of a war going on and men on the front line fighting for freedom, suddenly there's a sense in the context in which he's asking that question which makes the answer more complex and more troubling for him.

There is a curious shabbiness that exists in an actor's world… Down at the stage door there was a ration book, because there was rationing in England until 1958 and it was a glorious little touch, no-one's ever going to see it, but the set dresser had put it there. I think what's wonderful about this production is that the great care and detail that's been taken with every single element of the design and the set dressing. That has made the world feel very real for both Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen as they play their roles. I think they feel very much as though they are actually in a real place during World War II as the events take place.

What's in it for an American audience? First and foremost this is a very human story. It's a story about two men towards the end of their lives sort of assessing what their lives have been about. But the American audience loves British actors. I don't think they can get enough of British acting. In fact the reason they can't get enough of it is for the very reason this play exists which is that British actors unlike most American film and television actors actually have learnt their craft in the theatre. So they bring to the screen a craft and a fine tuning of their acting skills that isn't necessarily true of American actors who tend to work straight in television or film. So I think that for an American audience they're going to feast on these performances.

Ends.

SONIA FRIEDMAN (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER) INTERVIEW

How did you get involved in this project? I was originally going to do it for the stage. I approached Ronald Harwood, the writer, and asked him for the rights to produce it in the West End initially and he said yes and we set about thinking about who would be in it and who would direct it. Very early on in that process, Colin Callender, the other Executive Producer on the show, heard that I was doing The Dresser and said to me it is one of his favourite plays and would love to do it with me. So, we drew up our wish list - our dream team - and right at the head of that was Anthony Hopkins to play Sir.

What is The Dresser about? It's a love letter to theatre, it's a homage to a bygone period. The Dresser deals with a time and a place which is so nostalgic for many and un-get-at-able for all of us now. The time of the great actor/manager where theatre troupes went around the country and performed three, four plays a week and they lived for their craft, they lived for their art, it was a family and it was a community and I think that anybody who works in the theatre, whatever genre it is and whichever aspect of the business it is, ultimately we are all seeking that same thing which is to create a family.

The theatre is full of lost souls and I count myself as one of them and we are looking to create our own communities and it is getting harder and harder in the world we now live in and I have always been in love with the idea of being part of a theatre company. If I had my way I would be. I would have a theatre company which was the same group of actors and we would produce plays after plays in rep.

You have had an extraordinary track record in theatre… I have produced over one hundred and forty productions. In terms of the productions that our American colleagues may have seen they range from Boeing-Boeing with Mark Rylance to Twelfth Night to Richard III to Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem to Jez Butterworth's The River. Over here many new plays in the West End, many comedies, many revivals, musicals, The Book of Mormon… To be honest the list is way too long but what I do try to do with every single show I produce is instil a sense of safety and security for the company and for the actors that work in them because that is the way that an actor can do his best work.

What is the story about? The Dresser is on, a simple level, a play about an ageing actor coming to the end of his life, struggling with possible madness and fighting against the end. It is about love of theatre, a loving relationship between the actor/manager Sir played by Anthony Hopkins and his loyal long suffering, you know you would say servant if this was King Lear, but dresser, Norman who has a selfless love for him and looks out for him and it is about a love of the crafts. It's about a love of Shakespeare, it's about a love of words and it’s ultimately about love.

What sort of a dresser is Ian giving us? Tell us about him as Norman. Norman is sometimes played younger because he has been with him for sixteen years and so arguably Norman could be a couple of decades younger than Sir. What is beautiful about this Norman is he's a contemporary of Sir's. He could very easily have been an actor himself, having the same sort of career. He is kind, he is gentle, he is astute, he's watching everything, he is looking out for Sir, he has got his back and he is very funny and pretty heart-breaking.

Having been backstage in many London theatres, the set of The Dresser doesn't feel terribly different… It doesn't. The thing about working in theatre, however often you do it and however many times you watch a play from out front or backstage, my heart always beats that bit faster. I get overwhelmed with a sense of privilege and excitement and the mystery of it all and being backstage here it really feels like I am backstage and I know doing the job I do that if I had ever lost that sense of joy and adrenaline going backstage I would stop doing my job.

In Richard, you have got one of our greatest theatre, television and film directors. That must have been a nice completing of the circle? Yes, it was a no brainer. I had just finished working with Richard on a project in the West End, Ghosts, and when you looked at the combination of Anthony Hopkins, the play itself, Ian and the fact that there is a play within the play as well, you absolutely have to know your Shakespeare, you have to know your Lear, it has to be in your blood. Richard was the only person you could ever think of to do this and so we were thrilled when he said yes because I would have been astonished if he hadn't!

Ends.

DONAL WOODS (PRODUCTION DESIGNER)

INTERVIEW

What persuaded you to work on this project? Richard Eyre rang me and said he was directing The Dresser with Anthony Hopkins, Ian McKellen and I thought, well, what is to refuse? It’s a great play and those are fantastic actors. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of it and the addition of all the other actors in it, Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire, Edward Fox. It’s an honour to be part of it.

Have you worked with Richard before? We had worked on The Hollow Crown on the BBC about three years ago.

Were there core themes of the story that Richard wanted to bring into the forefront? We looked at the film, looked at the play and we wanted to make a difference. It’s no good just copying something that was done in the early 80s and we felt that we wanted to bring a slightly darker mood to the set to make the backstage seem pretty ropey; pretty run down; pretty miserable place to be and, hopefully, we’ve achieved that. Bearing in mind so much happens in the dressing room; so much happens in those corridors that the detail had to be immense.

Tell us about Sir’s dressing room? The main set is Sir’s dressing room, which had been written in the play as a sort of double room with a sofa or a chaise lounge and a stove and a sink. It’s almost like it wasn’t a dressing room really, as Richard said, I mean, Richard has probably worked in every theatre in the land. It’s probably too big to be a dressing room so we made it like it was a room that had been converted for him ‘cause he is Sir.

Backstage is the contrast with the glamour that the public see. Totally and I suppose if you’re going to invest in the theatre, you want to invest in where the audience are going to be. Backstage is still in many theatres like that just for financial reasons and so I think it was quite important. Also, during the War, nobody’s going to be painting a theatre or restoring a theatre, as the world was concentrating on other things. I think we got into the set that it’s been neglected probably since the 1920s, I should think, or even further. So, we sort of based it on those colours from the 20s and then gave them 15 years of nicotine. When I’ve talked to people before and they ask what’s your overriding theme? It’s nicotine. It’s treacled on, it looks a bit yellow and a bit worn.

Tell us about, about The Hackney Empire and how you’ve adapted that? It’s supposed to be The Theatre Royal, Nottingham and although Hackney has been modernised and we’re basically covering a lot of the modern areas at the stage door and the like, it had that magic about it which sort of defined theatre. You’d close your eyes and The Hackney Empire would be up there amongst them in terms of the look of how you’d feel a theatre ought to be. It was really hiding the modern technology they’ve now got backstage. It’s really bringing it back to where it was probably in those times.

You also had to take on the set design for King Lear. How did that work out? It’s based on Sir Donald Wolfit and the touring companies of those times. We wanted to give it a sense that it was quite well done and there was a sort of lot of thought in it and they were quite simple sets. It travelled. It had to go down in a truck which wouldn’t have been as big as any trucks we have today; travel round the country; be King Lear; be Othello; Macbeth or whatever you had to be.

It would have been used on many, many different productions but we wanted to give it credibility. We didn’t want to make it seem ‘pantomimey’, or too silly, and it’s probably a little bit more sophisticated than it probably would’ve been but I don’t think that’s a bad thing for a modern audience to look at.

How did you source the props for the make-up table? We’ve worked with Jenny [Shircore] because it’s no good getting an old stick from 1940 – it’s gonna give ‘em a reaction so we actually re-labelled some of the modern sticks with the 1940s label. We printed labels, rebound the sticks, wore them down as though they’d been used and made sure that Jenny was happy. It was a matter of making sure it worked in a modern way for modern screens and modern television whilst also being authentic to 1941.

JENNY SHIRCORE (MAKEUP DESIGNER) INTERVIEW

So what brought you into this project? The fact it was being directed by Richard Eyre. Also, that it had Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, Ronald Harwood; it’s a wonderful piece, and it’s something I just couldn’t say no to.

It’s almost like being in a makeup masterclass. Was that also part of the attraction? Yes. The biggest pull for me was knowing that Ian and Tony were playing the lead parts and that I would be privileged enough to be sitting there at the side of the stage watching them and listening to them. It’s a big pay-off really, if you’ve worked in the industry for so long and now you come to do something like this. It’s fantastic.

How did you want to approach the makeup? Well it’s in the script. The makeup in the script is the stage makeup that King Lear applies, Anthony Hopkins applies it on himself, and it’s written so meticulously, you know there’s a lot of homework that’s gone into that.

Was the physical makeup very different back in 1941? Yes, it was heavier, it was greasier. The lighting was different, so today’s make-up, it’s completely different. It’s light, it’s translucent, it’s much more sophisticated. We’ve been true to that period, we’re actually using the old Leichner makeups, the Leichner sticks, and have done what they would have done, but put our interpretation on it.

Have you had to work closely with the props department? Yeah, very closely. We know everything that’s on that dressing table and have advised all the prop boys, the designers, the production designers, and obviously Tony, as to what should be there and as to how to use it. So it’s a very close collaboration.

What is it like to work with Richard again? Oh he’s wonderful, he’s wonderful. I mean he knows his subject so brilliantly. And his notes are simple and straightforward, it’s no hardship working with him, it’s a joy.

Like a dresser, is there more to your relationship than simply doing their make-up? More often than not, there is. Sometimes, if you’re doing the makeup for two hours, you sit and chat. You get to know about each other’s lives and it’s more than just a professional makeup artist and an actor.

Ends.

FOTINI DIMOU (COSTUME DESIGNER) INTERVIEW

Why did you decide to be a part of this production of The Dresser? There is not a single reason for not wanting to do it. The play, Sir Richard Eyre, the formidable cast and the subject. And also the fact that I have been working in the theatre for over 30 years, nearly 35, and it’s my world. So it was very, very obvious that I would love to do it.

What does the play mean to you? It’s always been relevant, and there are certain things in the theatre that never ever change. And what the play is dealing with, I think is the utter commitment and sacrifices this group of actors make, the disappointments, the regrets, all of these things that make a lifetime, and they’re still doing it. People still do it today, so it’s very universal and timeless.

What are the keynotes for the costume for you? The period is 1940s. We are in war time England. The characters in it are very much like the people of the time, make do and mend. There’s no glamour of that, in that time, they had no money, they were recycling clothes, it’s all incredibly dowdy almost, but again, people used to take clothes, take them apart, turn them over, turn them around, use the cloth from the inside to the outside and remake suits.

On the contrary, on stage there is an element of fantasy and a little bit of exaggeration. They did have designers in that time, it used to be the producer, the impresario, the leading actor would go and buy costumes from another company, and because they were a touring company, they’d have the same costumes for different things and I tried to do that also. It’s the way I actually did it. This is what Richard wanted too. He said imagine this actor’s going to the wardrobe mistress or the wardrobe master, and asking can I have this cape, can I have this doublet for my part? That was available to them in that way, so they had to scramble and grab whatever they could and dress themselves. I tried to do that too with the theatrical costumes. And of course there was no research done particularly, it was their version of mediaeval times or Arthurian times, so there’s a little bit of a collage with the costumes.

It sounds like you were able to have a bit of fun with it? Lots of fun. I hope it’s obvious actually. It’s been great fun with the cast as well, they were very involved in this process. I try and get in touch with them early and I listen and they have so many good instincts about what they wear anyway. I always do that as a rule in my work, but in this one, because they are playing actors, it was so important that they were involved right from the start.

What are the key costumes for you? Well of course the two leads, those are very important. Ian McKellen’s is to do with him, he brought a lot into the process actually, he knew very much what he wanted. We hand knitted things for him, because they didn’t have money to buy, so some relative would have hand knitted. There are little back stories in everything we’ve done, and his is that. We copied a Fair Isle vest, which isn’t very easy to make, so there was a theme there with him. He has a collar that is starched, out of respect for Sir, so there were little things like that, that were very exciting and interesting.

As for Sir’s costume, he’d have a really nice suit that has aged, is a bit ill-fitting now, and a beautiful coat and a beautiful hat that have also gotten sad and old. The King Lear costume, he’d have the best costume in the company, because he’s the lead, he’s Sir, he’s the leading man. I actually designed that one for him, we had it made for him and aged it to make it look as old as everybody else’s [LAUGHS].

How important is the dresser? Dressers are important. It’s a skill to be a good dresser, and they become friends with the actors, they look after them. They also have to be discrete, and they have to know how to maintain the costumes. It’s like a caring profession, it’s a very important profession.

What makes this production of The Dresser relevant still for an audience? It’s very relevant today, because people don’t know what happens backstage in theatres, they don’t know the process. It gives a little opening, a little insight in how it works. More importantly, it shows the cost, these actors, they don’t just put a nice frock and go on stage, it costs something. All this passion of Sir’s and this anger, it’s there for a reason, his entire life has been exposing himself and going on stage and expressing universal things about life and death to an audience.

Ends.

CASTING THE DRESSER

“You could not in your wildest dreams have imagined a better cast. Anthony Hopkins, I think, is one of the all-time great actors – as are Ian McKellen and Edward Fox, who was in the first film. I watched a day’s shooting and they were terrific.” Ronald Harwood

With both Hopkins and McKellen having received great acclaim for their own stage performances as Shakespeare’s tormented King Lear, for executive producer Colin Callender, there was never any option other than to cast the actors as Sir and Norman respectively. “Tony’s been passionate about this since day one, and it’s partly his passion and commitment that has actually enabled it to happen. Ian had always been offered the role of Sir but rarely, if ever, offered the role of Norman. He greatly embraced both the possibility of working with Tony but also playing the role of Norman. Standing on the set every day, seeing Tony Hopkins and Ian McKellen together as actors at the height of their skill, craft and talent, was just glorious.”

Richard Eyre agrees that Anthony and Ian are “great, great talents. They’re absolutely the top of the game.”

Despite having known each other in passing for many years, The Dresser is the first time that Anthony and Ian have worked together on film. Anthony explains, “Ian and I have known each other over the years but not closely. We were at the National Theatre together but not in the same company. I saw a number of his productions and I’ve always been a great admirer. We met in California by accident when Ian was there doing King Lear and I was staying in the same hotel nearby one night as the Pacific Coast Highway was closed and I couldn’t get home. As I was driving back in the morning, I remember thinking ‘I’ll work with him one day’. So here we are.”

Ian adds, “When I heard that Tony was going to be in The Dresser, I immediately said yes. It’s true about really good actors that they make you act better yourself. It’s not off- putting that they’re so good, it’s a wonderful gift and I can plug into his energy. I get to be very, very close to him and I see him as he delivers the performance, and I tell you that is such a thrill.”

For Anthony, the experience has also proven to be equally positive, “This has been the best, most powerful acting experience I’ve had in many, many years. And it’s a sheer pleasure, working with Ian because he’s a great actor. I enjoy this so much, I don’t want the weekends to come!”

An additional attraction to the role for Ian was the script itself. He explains, “There aren’t that many screenplays like this one in which there are two equal parts for actors of the same sex and age. The structure is absolutely rock solid, the information is leaked out the way you want it, and the preparation for Sir’s entrance into the story is a classic piece of exciting build up.” Colin adds, “There's something very, very poignant about the relationship between these two men of similar age in the film and that's a different dynamic to the one that we've seen in other productions.”

For Sarah Lancashire, who plays the stage manager, Madge, “Anthony and Ian are extraordinary. It’s a privilege just to stand and watch them. It feels like a little bit of history in the making to be honest. We had two weeks in a rehearsal room before we hit the stage and just being able to sit there and watch these extraordinary talents was breathtaking.”

Rounding out the stellar cast are Emily Watson playing Her Ladyship and Edward Fox as Thornton, who returns to The Dresser in a different role following his original appearance in the 1983 film as Oxenby. That role is today filled by Tom Brooke, alongside Vanessa Kirby as Irene – an eager young actor in Sir’s company - for whom life is imitating art. “Someone said that every young actor should watch Anthony and Ian working, it’s like a masterclass. I’m so lucky to have had the opportunity to do that. I do really feel like Irene, keen as mustard! I was just so excited, it really feels like a part of history.”

ADAPTING THE PLAY

The Dresser was adapted for television by Richard Eyre, who remained entirely faithful to the original play. He was approached to join the production by Colin Callender who explains, “The Dresser is about a man towards the end of his life coming to terms with, or not, the key relationships in his life. This man happens to be an actor, who happens to have a dresser who worked with him, but at heart it’s about a man coming to terms with his mortality, legacy and how he has treated people along the way. Richard has brought two wonderful things to this production. Firstly, he saw it was a thriller – he loved the idea that the play’s about to open in an hour and the leading actor isn’t there and when he is, we don’t know if he will remember his lines or even go on. But what Richard has really worked at, which makes it extraordinarily moving, is grounding the play in a real place with real people. Even though they’re actors, the characters themselves are very real and heartbreakingly so. Richard’s determination to keep those characters grounded is what makes this particular production so powerful.”

Sarah Lancashire adds, “As an actor, I think it’s the greatest piece ever written about actors. It is such an emotionally driven piece and you see exactly what makes actors tick - the need to get on the stage - especially in this instance when the stakes are so high and Sir is so ill. It just makes that world feel very accessible to people who are not in the theatre - you really see how it works, where the loyalties lie. But this extraordinary inner strength which is needed for him to get on the stage, and the way Norman beautifully cajoles him to, holding his hand metaphorically all the way through, is so beautifully done. It is a love story. I have no doubts about that. It is a great, great love story.”

“It is ‘will he or won’t he’ and the deterioration of Sir’s mind,” explains Richard Eyre, “but it is also about triumph over adversity. I think it’s a mistake to think of the piece as being purely about theatre and the process of acting. As with King Lear, it’s about mortality and a man who senses at some stage that his life is running out. It’s about how you face the end and how you have the courage to endure over adversity. And that’s true of actors because the theatre is a microcosm of the greater world.”

RECREATING THE THEATRE

The Dresser was primarily filmed at Ealing Studios, where Production Designer Donal Woods created a dressing room and surrounding backstage corridors to match exactly to the Hackney Empire, where the stage scenes were filmed.

As Donal explains, “The main set is Sir’s dressing room, which had been written in the play as a double room with a sofa, a stove and a sink. It’s probably too big to be a dressing room so we made it feel like it was a room that had been converted because he is ‘Sir’.”

“It’s a film set in the War that has hardly any of the War in it, but the resonance of the situation obviously impacts on how you view the script and the story. Nobody would have been painting or restoring a theatre in a time when the world was concentrating on other things, so we based the set on those colours of the 20’s to imply it had been neglected since that time.”

“Equally, as a touring repertoire theatre company, their own stage sets would have been quite simple. They had to travel around the country in a truck which wouldn’t have been as big as any trucks we have today, and the gates for the castle or the storm cloth would have been used on many, many different productions be it King Lear or Othello or Macbeth. We wanted to give the set credibility but without it looking too much like a pantomime set.”

For both the production design team and make-up team, recreating the theatrical props and make- up of the time was vital to the story.

Donal says, “It’s been a collaboration between Richard, Jenny Shircore (make-up designer) and ourselves to make sure everything worked in a modern way for modern screens whilst also being authentic to 1941. We re-labelled some of the modern make-up sticks with the 1940’s label, and wore them down as though they’d been used and made sure Jenny was happy with them. It’s no good getting an old stick from the 1940s if it’s going to give the actors a reaction!”

Jenny adds, “It’s been a very close collaboration. We know everything that’s on the dressing table and have been advising the props team, the designers, the production designers on what should be where and how, as well as telling Anthony how to use them.” The war period was also an important factor in the costume design for Fotini Dimou. “The people and the characters are very much like the people of the time, with the ‘make do and mend’ attitude. They had no money and were recycling clothes so I tried to show that war effect.”

And as with the versatile set design, a touring theatre company would have needed to make their costumes stretch across many different productions. “On stage there is an element of fantasy and exaggeration but because they were a touring company, they’d have the same costumes for different things but with a different hat or cape. And of course there was no research done particularly - it was their version of mediaeval times so there’s a little bit of a collage with the costumes.”

The costumes for the two leads however were very important to perfect, especially for Norman. Fotini says, “Ian knew very much what he wanted and he brought a lot to the process. Norman would have had things hand knitted so that’s what we did, we hand knitted things for him. We copied a vest pattern and made an apron. He has a collar that is starched out of respect for Sir.” “As for Sir, he’d have the best costume in the company because he’s the leading man. He’s Sir!” Fotini also adds, “The role of the dresser is very important. It’s a skill to be a good dresser – they become friends with the actors, they look after them, they have to maintain the costumes. It’s a very important profession. I know actors who use the same dresser because they trust them. They will find that same person and keep the relationship going.”

A final note from Colin confirms the appeal of the role. “I think some of the most engaging films and television dramas take you behind the scenes into a world which the audience doesn’t normally get to see. That idea of peeling back the veil on a hidden, private world is something that’s very appealing to an audience and certainly is true here. The dresser would normally be a character who would pass through the frame in the background but in this play he’s centre stage. Seeing a character that you would not normally see centre stage is very touching.”

ENDS.