The Dresser presented by Bury Theatre Workshop
At Sudbury Quay Theatre – Thursday 29th January 2026
A Guest Review by Aaron Weight of AaronSays.co.uk
I was not overly familiar with The Dresser, although it is one of those plays that seems to be fairly well known, I had none of the finer details which I do rather prefer. Bury Theatre Workshop are turning their well travelled theatrical hands towards it, with the company’s founder, director and chair – fittingly – in the role of Sir.
The charmingly quaint Sudbury Quay Theatre, is a delightful small space full of character. Indeed taking our seats, the ambience was subtly amplified with 1940s music and a few propaganda posters dotted around the room, simple but a nice touch to set the scene for this play. I think the closeness of this theatre also added to the experience of this show, giving the assembled audience the impression of being right there in the dressing room too.
It is quite a sedentary play, but the cast are quick to establish themselves within it. Alongside the aforementioned Tim Lodge as Sir; Pelham Elliott is the titular dresser, Norman. The pair are perfectly suited for each other and play together brilliantly – bringing a long working relationship to life with care and consideration, and this is the core relationship the play hangs upon.
Pelham gets the lion’s share of the lines, and takes them all in his stride, moving everything along through the detailed passages with ease. He plays the subtle steering of Norman with excellent tenacity throughout. Tim is magnetic as Sir, with frailty fading into magnificence as he literally transforms himself on stage at the makeup mirror we are all intently watching him through, hardly able to look away from the intensity of his work.
Additionally Susan Beaumont plays Her Ladyship with creeping anxiety deftly kept at just the right level of showing through, Deborah Paredes as the put-upon stage manager Madge has an all too familiar stress pretty much throughout, and Rebecca Hannah as Irene gives the character a fitting innocence to the few scenes we get to see her in. Andrew Smith gets a few moments to shine as Geoffrey Thornton, who takes his opportunity for a heartfelt monologue in the second half with gusto. The cast is completed by Kieran Healy, Jessica Austen, David Brooks, Crispin Cockman and Andrew Conlon who all do well with what little they are given by the play.
The staging is in equal parts ambitious and odd. I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the play within the play made visible at the back of the stage, but it did also make for some incongruous moments where it suddenly didn’t matter who was and wasn’t on the “actual” stage. There was then the very odd choice to have an invisible door to be used by several of the players, with an awkward accompanying SFX knock firing with varying degrees of success in its timing – particularly jarring with one poor member of the cast left with his hand in the air waiting for the sound.
Overall, with the exception of a few moments which I felt to be showing the age of the writing a little, it’s a pleasant little slice of backstage life. The team at Bury Theatre Workshop have clearly put a lot of time into bringing it to the stage, and their passion for the craft shines through. It’s not a grand production by any measure, but the heart is certainly there. Sir would be proud.
The Dresser runs until 31st January at The Quay Sudbury with performances on:
Fri 30th January – 7:30 pm
Sat 31st January – 2:00 pm
Sat 31st January – 7:30 pm
Visit The Quay website for more details and to book tickets.
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