The Dresser

German aircraft carried out a number of attacks

on Great Britain last night.

The raids, which lasted for several hours,

were scattered over many parts of the country

and enemy aircraft have been reported over towns...

...on the south coast, the west of england,

the north of england and the northwest

as well as over the London area.

He does nothing but cry.

- Are they keeping him in? - They wouldn't let me stay.

Doctor said I seemed to make matters worse.

I should never have taken him to the hospital.

I don't know what came over me.

I should have brought him back here where he belongs.

Why is his coat on the floor? And his hat?

Drying out. They're wet through.

Well, how did he come to be in such a state, Norman?

When you telephoned,

I thought at first that he'd been hurt in the air raid.

- Oh, no. - Or had an accident.

Oh, no, not an accident.

No, I know, because they...

They said there was no sign of physical injury.

Your ladyship...

- He's in a state of collapse. - Yes, I know.

- Well how did he get like that? - Your...Your ladyship...

What happened to him?

Sit down. Please, sit down. We must remain calm.

The doctor said it must have been coming on for weeks.

Oh, if not longer.

Well, I didn't see him this morning.

He left the digs before I woke.

Where was he all day? Where did you find him?

Well, what happened was this, your ladyship.

After the last all clear sounded,

I went into market square, just as dusk was coming on,

peculiar light.

Ever so yellowish.

I'd hoped to find

a packet or two of brown and polson's cornflour,

since our supplies are rather low.

So I was asking at this stall

and that's when i heard his voice.

- Whose voice? - Sir's, of course.

He was taking off his overcoat in this weather.

"God help the man who stops me!" He shouted,

and then he threw the coat to the ground,

just like king lear in the storm scene.

Look at it. I don't know that I'll ever get it clean.

And he was so proud of it. Do you remember?

Oh, no, perhaps it was before your time.

Mm...First Canadian tour. Toronto.

What happened after he took off his coat?

He started on the hat.

Dunn's hat shop, piccadilly, only a year ago.

Down on the coat it went, and he jumped on it.

He stamped on his hat, viciously stamped on his hat.

Well, you can see.

Then he lifted his arms in the air,

like he does to convey sterility into goneril's womb.

"How much further do you want me to go?" And...

His fingers were all of a fidget, undoing his jacket,

loosening his collar and tie,

tearing at the buttons of his shirt.

Were there many people about?

A small crowd. Well, that's why I ran to him.

I didn't want him to stand there, looking ridiculous,

people were all around, sniggering.

Did he see you? Did he know who you were?

I didn't wait to find out.

I just took his hand and I said, "good evening, sir.

"Shouldn't we be getting to the theater?"

In my best nanny voice, the one i use when he's being wayward.

He paid no attention. He was shivering.

You shouldn't have let the public see him like that.

It's easy to be wise after the event,

if you don't mind my saying so, your ladyship.

But I tried to spirit him away,

not easy with a man of his proportions,

only just then...

...a woman approached, quite old,

wearing bombazine under a tweed coat,

but perfectly respectable.

She'd picked up his clothes and wanted to help him dress,

and sir said to the lady...

..."thank you, my dear, but Norman usually helps me.

"I'd be lost without Norman",

and I thought, "well, this is your cue, ducky,"

so I said, "I'm Norman, I'm his dresser,"

and the woman, she had her hair in curlers,

she took his hand and she kissed it,

and she said, "you was lovely in the corsican brothers"...

...and he looked at her for a long time

and then he smiled sweetly.

You know the way he does when he's wanting to charm.

"Thank you, my dear, but you must excuse me.

"I have to make an exit", and he ran off.

He said, "i have to make an exit"?

Well, of course, I followed him, fearing the worst.

I didn't know he could run so fast.

I just followed this trail of discarded clothing,

the jacket, the waistcoat,

and I thought, "we can't have sir doing

"a striptease round town."

And then I found him leaning up against a lamppost,

weeping.

Where?

Outside the kardomah.

Without a word, hardly knowing what I was doing,

I led him to the hospital.

The sister didn't recognize him,

although later she said she'd seen him last night as othello.

A doctor was summoned,

short, bald, bespectacled,

and I was excluded by the drawing of screens.

And then you telephoned me.

No, I waited, I lurked, as Edgar says,

and I heard the doctor whisper, "this man is exhausted.

"This man is in a state of collapse."

And that's how it happened.

Oh, he did nothing but cry.

Yes, you said.

I left him lying on top of the bed, still in his clothes,

crying, no, weeping,

as though he'd lost control, had no choice,

wept and wept, floodgates.

What are we to do?

In an hour, there will be an audience in this theater

hoping to see him as king lear.

What am I to do?

Well, don't upset yourself, for a start.

Well, I've never had to make this sort of decision before.

Any sort of decision before.

As soon as I came out of the hospital, I telephoned madge

and asked her to meet me here as soon as possible.

She'll know what to do.

Oh, yes, madge will know what to do.

She won't upset herself, that's for certain.

No, madge will be ever so sensible.

Well, I suppose stage managers have to be.

I had a friend once, had been a vicar

before falling from the pulpit and landing on the stage.

Ever so good as an ugly sister. To the manner born.

His wife didn't upset easily.

Just as well, I suppose, all things considered.

Madge reminds me of her. Cold, businesslike, boring.

The doctor took me into a little room

littered with enamel dishes full of bloodstained bandages.

The smell made me faint.

He asked me about his behaviour in recent days.

Had I noticed anything untoward?

And what did you say, if you don't mind my asking?

- I lied. - Oh.

I said he'd been perfectly normal.

I don't want to appear neglectful.

I should have been more vigilant.

Only last night I woke. Is that madge?

No, it's Irene.

You were saying, last night you woke.

He was looking at me.

He was naked.

It was bitter cold. He was shivering.

He said, "thank you for watching over me.

"But don't worry. Just go on looking after me.

"I have the feeling i may do something violent."

Talk about untoward.

Glad you didn't tell the doctors that.

They'd have locked him up for good.

Last night, after othello,

he asked me, "what do we play tomorrow, Norman?"

I told him king lear

and he said, "then I shall wake

"with the storm clouds over my head."

Oh, I should have made him rest.

The doctor said he'd come to the end of his rope

and found it frayed.

So would anyone who'd had to put up with

what he's had to put up with.

You should have told the doctor about the troubles.

No. Civilians never understand.

I could kick myself for taking him to the hospital.

It was the right thing to do.

Well, I hope so.

Doctors.

Can you imagine trying to explain to a doctor

what sir's been through?

"Well, you see, doctor, he's been trying to recruit actors

"for his Shakespeare company,

"and all the able-bodied and best ones are in uniform,

"and the theaters are bombed as soon as you book them."

Doctors.

He'd have had his hypodermic rampant

before you could say "as you like it".

Madge is right. There is no alternative.

We'll have to cancel.

Oh, no. Oh, your ladyship, no. Cancellation's ever so drastic.

He's ill. There's no crime in being ill.

It's not high treason, it's not a capital offence,

it's not desertion in the face of the enemy.

He's not himself. He can't work.