"Case simply astounds in one of his best roles to date...
His emotional range and physical delivery lend this
small production a sense of professional gravitas. His
performance alone is more than worth the admission ticket."
-The Lexington Herald-Leader (Review of The Dresser)







The Dresser


The reviews are in! The show is a big hit and Ryan Case is praised by The Lexington Herald-Leader: "Case simply astounds in one of his best roles to date, which is saying something." Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser played at Balagula Theater, Natasha's, from March 7-16, 2007.



The play is a double backstage portrait of an old actor touring the provinces of England during the Second World War and the loyal dresser who so devotedly serves him. It is based loosely on the life of one of England's greatest Shakespearean actors, Sir Donald Wolfit (who had his own provincial touring company before and during the war). Playwright Ronald Harwood was Wolfit's dresser for five years and his play is considered to be Harwood’s finest literary triumph, with dialogue that sparkles with theatrical wit.



The Dresser starred Ed Desiato, Ryan Case, Deb Sharpe, Robin Roth, Celeste Buxton, Greg Jones, Richard Broadus and was directed by Adam Luckey.




PLAY SYNOPSIS

The Dresser is set in January 1942 in a theatre in the English provinces, with the country in the middle of the blitz. The company, headed by Sir (Ed Desiato) and his wife "Her Ladyship" (Deb Sharp), is doing Shakespeare rep and tonight is King Lear.



Sir is nearly burned out, suffering from sheer exhaustion and forgetting most of his lines. As they say, "he should pack it in," but actors being actors, he still wants the limelight and struggles to keep a grip on his sanity to complete his 227th performance of King Lear.



His dresser, Norman (Ryan Case), is a fuss budget who has served the actor faithfully for 16 years. His job is not only to dress the man but to massage his ego and remind him of his opening lines.






'PERFECTLY PRESENTED'
Performances and direction elevate 'Dresser'

By Candace Chaney
Lexington Herald-Leader
March 9, 2007

Sometimes there is more drama backstage than onstage.

Balagula Theatre's latest production, The Dresser, by Oscar-winning writer Ronald Harwood, explores the emotionally blurred landscape of the relationships among a third-rate Shakespeare touring company in 1942 England.

The effect is a realistic 20th-century backstage tragedy that rivals, and at times parallels, the repertoire of the company.

Chief among the company members is Sir, the troupe's star, an aging veteran actor played by local acting legend Ed Desiato. Sir is the dynamic, troubled center of this theater "family." The troupe's sense of meaning and eventual fate are inextricably tied to his.

Battling senility, exhaustion and the fading sense of importance of his life's career in the theater, Sir is largely a broken man who rallies only when his dresser, Norman, selflessly caters to Sir's ego.

In past productions of The Dresser, Sir has been played in wildly diverse ways, from farcical to maniacal, but Desiato plays Sir with a compelling mix of helplessness, agitation, decadent greatness and flawed humanity.

From the docile, forgetful senior who, even five minutes to curtain mutters, "What play are we doing?" before stepping onto the stage to deliver a great (and final) Lear, Sir is the epitome of the last generation of British "actor- managers" of his day.

No moment drives this home more than Sir's decision to continue the production amid the blaring sirens of a German air raid, a moment of the play that inspires pity and awe.

Because of Desiato's extraordinary performance, one cannot help but feel Sir's palpable magnetism, one that draws others, perhaps perilously, to devote their life's work to him.

Ryan Case, in the title role of Sir's dresser, Norman, is the most tragic example of this. Case simply astounds in one of his best roles to date, which is saying something.

While Norman has devoted 16 years of his life to washing Sir's underwear and intimately preparing him to play the likes of Lear and Othello, his own life's meaning seems dwarfed and even bankrupt by comparison. Although he is a backstage hero of sorts due to his ability to wrangle a pitiful, senile Sir into a Shakespearean king, he receives no discernable gratitude from Sir.

Case is simply enchanting in this role, and his emotional range and physical delivery lend this small production a sense of professional gravitas. His performance alone is more than worth the admission ticket.

Another familiar face in Lexington theater, Adam Luckey, trades the spotlight for the director's chair, where he proves just as formidable a talent. His inventive use of Natasha's space is particularly effective. For instance, the opening of the second act coincides with Lear's opening in the play, which Luckey cleverly stages in the adjoining boutique, giving the audience a sense that it is privy to a real backstage experience. It also emphasizes the contrast between the characters' onstage and off-stage lives.

What's more impressive, though, is his pensive, complex slant on a play that easily could veer into the realm of farce or self-parody.

Drawing on some of the best local talent available, The Dresser is a gripping production perfectly suited for the intimate venue of Natasha's Cafe and a promising indication of what is to come as Balagula Theater continues to grow professionally.

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