Viva Lewes Issue #145 October 2018

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ON THIS MONTH: THEATRE The Dresser The end of a theatrical era The Dresser, by Ronald Harwood, is a play about theatre; in fact it takes us to the bitter end of a once-glorious theatrical era. It was a West End hit in 1980, and went on to succeed on Broadway, too. You might well have seen the 1983 screen adaptation, which starred Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. The era in question is that of the actor-managers, who ran their own repertory companies, and toured classic works – largely by Shakespeare – around provincial theatres, playing the lead roles themselves. Notable examples include Sir Frank Benson, and Sir Donald Wolfit. Nicholas Betteridge is directing The Dresser at Lewes Little Theatre for the second time; the first was in 1986. He explains to me the dynamics of the play. It’s set immediately before and during a performance of King Lear, in a provincial theatre, in 1942. The rep company’s actor-manager, ‘Sir’, a sixty-something veteran, whose reputation is waning, is in the throes of a nervous breakdown. His dresser, Norman, has to persuade him to pull himself together enough to get on the stage and perform the lead. We watch the action – explosive in more ways than one – from behind the scenes. Harwood was himself for many years a dresser in a rep company, run by Sir Donald Wolfit, and it’s tempting to deduce that ‘Sir’ is based on Wolfit. “He’s always denied that that was entirely the case,” Betteridge tells me (and certainly an essay written by Harwood, and included in a 1980 programme our sub-editor David dug out, confirms ‘Sir is not Donald Wolfit’). “But he was certainly a man of similar style, and substance.” Sir is a complex and deeplyflawed character. “He is egotistical. But he believes that what he is doing – educating the people about Shakespeare – is absolutely necessary.” Thus, he draws some sympathy from the audience, and The Dresser is, in part, its own tragedy. “But there’s more to it than that. There are some extremely funny lines in it. It might be argued that it’s part comedy, too.” Betteridge, who has been involved with Lewes Little Theatre since 1963, was tempted out of retirement to direct the play but, he tells me, he wasn’t tempted to play the lead himself. For that he chose another veteran of the company, Anthony Bannister (pictured), who knows the play well, having previously played the role of Norman. The Dresser is “extremely relevant today,” Bannister tells me, “because theatre’s on the move again. Young fringe theatre companies are getting together and touring their own performances, while Kenneth Branagh and others are reprising the role of the actor-manager.” If The Dresser depicts the end of an era, then, it’s one that’s left a lasting legacy. “This play gives us a wonderful insight into a theatrical genre that most people would not know about,” says Bannister. “And a lot of what we understand about theatre today is down to the hard work of the great actor-managers. They were the superstars of their age.” Alex Leith The Dresser, Lewes Little Theatre, Oct 6th-13th, lewestheatre.org 39
Page 2 and 3: AST SUSSEX COLLEGE OPEN EVENTS EAST
Page 4 and 5: TASTING ROOM & CELLAR DOOR - Dine i
Page 6 and 7: THE ‘LARDER’ ISSUE Art. 66-77.
Page 9 and 10: Unit 3, Phoenix Works, Lewes, East
Page 11 and 12: GALIA PIKE Global Action Plan, illu
Page 13 and 14: Photo by Katie Moorman MY LEWES: MA
Page 15 and 16: PHOTO OF THE MONTH END OF THE TUNNE
Page 17 and 18: BITS AND BOBS SPREAD THE WORD RESCU
Page 19 and 20: BITS AND BOOKS LOCAL LITERATURE Lit
Page 21 and 22: BITS AND BOBS ROCKET FM: THE BEST P
Page 23 and 24: Lewes Town & Country Residential Sa
Page 25 and 26: BITS AND BOBS CHARITY BOX: LEWES OP
Page 27 and 28: BITS AND BOBS LEWES IN NUMBERS Lewe
Page 29 and 30: BITS AND BOBS LEWESLIGHT FESTIVAL L
Page 31 and 32: PHOTOGRAPHY CARLOTTA LUKE FOCUS ON
Page 33 and 34: COLUMN Chloë King Tit for tat One
Page 35: COLUMN David Jarman ‘O City city,
Page 40 and 41: Studios, Art Room, Treatment Rooms,
Page 42 and 43: Celebrating 50 years MASSENET CINDE
Page 44 and 45: Sussex Students are looking now ACC
Page 46 and 47: Louis Browne NOTARY PUBLIC Speciali
Page 48 and 49: J M Furniture Ltd TRADING IN LEWES
Page 50 and 51: BLAST THEORY BLOODYMINDED 14 OCTOBE
Page 52 and 53: OCT listings (cont) WEDNESDAY 10 Th
Page 54 and 55: BENTLEY Wildfowl & Motor Museum Har
Page 56 and 57: FREETIME êêêê UNDER 16 SUNDAY 7
Page 59 and 60: ONCE UPON A WILD WOOD BY CHRIS RIDD
Page 61 and 62: GIG GUIDE // OCTOBER GIG OF THE MON
Page 63 and 64: GIG GUIDE // OCTOBER Alistair Ander
Page 65 and 66: MUSIC Classical round-up SATURDAY 6
Page 67 and 68: ART Lewes resident Simon Blaxland h
Page 69: ART ART & ABOUT In town this month
Page 72 and 73: The Everyday Extraordinary and An A
Page 74 and 75: Open every Sunday in October. The l
Page 76 and 77: Image courtesy of Piano Nobile ON T
Page 78 and 79: PUB • FOOD • ACCOMMODATION BAKE
Page 80 and 81: 80 Photo by Chloë King
Page 83 and 84: DRINK Sussex Blue Gin Turning Susse
Page 85 and 86: FOOD Illustration by Chloë King Ed
Page 87 and 88: THE WAY WE WORK Merle Moustafa, Mer
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THE WAY WE WORK Einat Chalmers, Mam
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TRADE SECRETS Lewes Farmers Market
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MY SPACE Lee Miller’s larder Chic
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MY SPACE probably the only resident
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HEALTH Good grief Moving on from lo
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FOOTBALL Ready for any challenge Da
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WILDLIFE Illustration by Mark Greco
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COLUMN Lewes Out Loud Plenty more H
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DIRECTORY Please note that though w
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HOME OVER 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE FREE
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HOME FREE ESTIMATES UIS OF EWES 077
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HOME AND GARDEN PAUL FURNELL Carpen
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HEALTH VALENCE ROAD OSTEOPATHS Coun
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CLIFFE OSTEOPATHS complementary hea
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COMPETITIVE PRICES FLO TYRES & ACCE
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GARAGES We print 11,500 magazines m
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Pr ices from £249,950 Apartments t
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Viva Lewes Issue #145 October 2018

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