1. Media Sponsor

Backstage in a provincial theatre an ageing actor-manager, known to his company as Sir, is struggling to find the strength to make it to the stage for his two hundred and twenty seventh performance of King Lear. 

With thirty minutes to curtain-up, air-raid sirens sounding and the best actors having been ‘called up’, Sir is crumbling.  Devoted dresser Norman must once again rally the unpredictable star whose grip on sanity is becoming increasingly precarious.  For sixteen years Norman has been there to fix Sir’s wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and help to provide the sound effects for the storm scene on the blasted heath.

Inspired by the memories of his years working as Donald Wolfit's dresser, Ronald Harwood's evocative, perceptive and hilarious portrait of backstage life is one of the most acclaimed dramas of modern theatre.