Bill Salyers and Chris Loprete (Photo by Jeremy D. Thompson)
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
The Tavern Brawlers at The MAIN
Through August 16
RECOMMENDED
Chris Loprete and Eils Avalos (Photo by Jeremy D. Thompson)
Sometimes the best theater emerges not from Broadway or off-Broadway or London’s West End, but from places you’d hardly expect — perhaps a little hole in the wall storefront theater, some 26 miles or so northwest of Hollywood.
The MAIN in Newhall is just such a venue, and it’s currently hosting The Tavern Brawlers, a company which (in conjunction with the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival) is staging Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser — a play about theater and what goes on behind the curtain, and also about what it’s like when someone, or alternatively someone you hold dear, begins to fall apart.
Harwood based this 1980 drama on his personal experience as an assistant to Sir Donald Wolfit, an actor-manager of one of the many theatrical touring companies that operated in Britain beginning in the 18th century and continuing through much of the 20th. These companies brought Shakespeare and other classic works to communities both inside and outside London. Actor-managers were leading performers who also ran the company they were featured in — they leased venues, chose repertory and cast the supporting roles — as such wielding power over other members.
Wolfit was a noted name among them, in particular when, during World War II, he declined to stop touring even as German bombs rained down on Britain. So it is in The Dresser; bombs are falling and air raids are taking place as Sir (William Salyers) one of the play’s two pivotal characters, struggles to prepare for his appearance on stage as King Lear.
And it is a struggle. Lately Sir has not been well; his mind drifts, and an incident earlier in the day had caused him to be hospitalized. Some members of the company are firm in wanting to cancel the performance, chiefly Sir’s common law wife, Her Ladyship (Gin Treadwell-Eng) and the company stage manager, Madge (Kathi Chaplar), a sensible-to-a-fault associate of Sir who’s been with him for over 20 years. Even Sir himself has doubts about whether he can go on.
But one person insists this must not happen: Norman, Sir’s dresser (Chris Loprete), who is devoted to his employer and determined to ignore the obvious signs of dementia and ready him for the stage, just as he has for many nights and matinees in years prior. Norman hasn’t been with Sir as long as Madge: His tenure’s only been 16 years. But it’s been 16 years of total and utter dedication.
It’s Norman’s determination to whip Sir into shape that drives this rich complex drama, coupled with Harwood’s riveting on-the-page conjuring of Sir, a tyrannical narcissist with immense power over the lives of others, sustained even as his own psyche decomposes at an accelerating rate. (The “riveting” is from a dramatic standpoint — Sir isn’t someone you’d want to get to know personally.)
Co-directed by father-and-daughter team Marlowe Weisman and Calliope Weisman, The Dresser putts along for the first 20 minutes (this is a wordy play) as expository dialogue between Her Ladyship and Norman sets us up for the drama to follow. Once Sir makes an entrance, however, the production intensifies and transforms. Each disparate fragment of a thought traversing Sir’s muddled brain seems to register on Salyer’s face, even as his character’s intimidating presence continues to hold sway on the other hapless characters whose fortunes are intertwined with his.
Chief among them is Norman — a vulnerable man whose entire world is wrapped up in his identity as Sir’s dresser (not to mention the other secret yearnings we suspect he harbors). It’s not for nothing the play is titled The Dresser; as impactful as the Sir character may be, this is Norman’s story, for it is he who has the most to lose. And from his nuanced beginning at the top, Loprete builds his performance to a stunning denouement, playing in tandem with Salyers’ demented bully to create memorable theater.
Other performances and additional elements of the staging are fine or better. The ensemble performs well overall, with a couple of notable cameos: David Ritterband as Geoffrey, an elderly actor who pleads with Sir for better parts, and Darien Calderon as Geoffrey’s opposite, a young thespian who scorns to bend the knee. An appropriately shabby but colorful set (uncredited) and period costumes from Lynn McQouwn, Jill McGlynn and Flo Lee lend authenticity to this moving work.
The MAIN, 24266 Main St., Newhall. Fri., 8 pm, Sat.-Sun., 2 pm, Sat., Aug. 15, 2 pm; thru Aug. 16; https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-dresser-presented-by-the-tavern-brawlers-tickets-1983999159895?aff=ebdssbdestsearch Runtime: two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission.
