FORTY years ago, shortly before Bradford’s Alhambra theatre closed for a major refurbishment, it was taken over by a film crew.

The producers were looking for an old regional theatre and chose the Alhambra because it looked as it did when it was built in 1914.

The film was The Dresser, starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay, each nominated for Oscars and Baftas for their roles as a has-been actor and his loyal dresser.

The 1983 film was shot at the Alhambra and other Bradford locations, including Legrams Lane and the Boy and Barrel pub.

Next month The Dresser, the original play written by Ronald Harwood in 1980, arrives at the Alhambra, starring Julian Clary as Norman and Matthew Kelly as Sir.

Inspired by his memories of working as actor Donald Wolfit’s dresser as a young man, Ronald Harwood’s evocative, affectionate and funny portrait of backstage life is regarded as a classic of modern theatre.

It is 1942 and in a war-torn provincial theatre an ageing actor-manager, known to his loyal acting company as ‘Sir’, is struggling to cling on to his sanity and complete his 227th performance of King Lear. For 16 years Norman, Sir’s devoted dresser, has been there to fix Sir’s wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and provide sound effects in the storm scene. It is down to

Norman to ensure that in spite of everything, the show goes on.

Julian Clary has been performing on stage, television, radio, film and stand-up comedy for four decades. His theatre roles include Leigh Bowery in Boy George’s musical Taboo, Emcee in Cabaret in the West End and panto at the London Palladium.

Olivier Award-winning Matthew Kelly’s West End credits include Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen and Of Mice and Men, playing Lennie. His TV work includes Cold Blood, Benidorm and Bleak House and, as a presenter, Stars in their Eyes.

* How would you describe your characters in The Dresser?

Matthew: “Sir’ is part of a touring Shakespearean company in 1942. The play is based on a real actor, Sir Donald Wolfit. He spent most of his life touring the provinces and taking Shakespeare to the nation. He was an old-school barnstorming actor, they’d do Othello one afternoon, Richard III in the evening, then King Lear the next day. With ‘Sir’ in the play, we see him at the end of his career. He’s an old has-been.”

Julian: “The dresser is Norman, he’s quite a complex character. He’s in a servile position but he’s very bright and thinks he’s running the ship in a way, as dressers often do. They chivvy everything along but they don’t have obvious authority, it’s more subtle.”

M: “Norman is the one who holds ‘Sir’ together and actually holds everybody together, with the maxim of ‘The show must go on’. The play is really about Norman. It’s about the unsung little people.”

* Can you relate to Norman and ‘Sir’ in any way?

J: “I can, yes. There are very few parts I could play because I’m not really an actor. I couldn’t do Coriolanus this week, for example. With Norman it’s the delivery, the humour and the waspishness of him that appeals, as well as the vulnerability.”

M: “Can I relate to ‘Sir’? Oh God, yeah. Never knowingly underacted! ‘Sir’ is a great big show-off really and I can relate to that, but I don’t have his ego. The difference is that I’m all for a team event where everybody serves everybody else, whereas ‘Sir’ believes that everybody serves him.”

* These roles are considered two of the best in theatre. Were they on your wish list?

M: “I can’t see myself playing anything until I get the part, then I think ‘Well, they obviously think I can do it so there must be something in that’.”

J: “Most of my life is spent making up my own act and talking about myself, which is why it’s a nice change to inhabit someone else. And I like the feeling of taking on something I might not be able to do. I like the fear.”

* Ronald Harwood’s play is revered as a classic. Why do you think that is?

J: “With ‘Sir’, some of his speeches demystify the whole business of acting. He’s terribly eloquent about what acting is and why you do it.”

M: “Very often plays about actors make us look like awful people who are very loud and ought to be slapped, but The Dresser gives you an eloquent insight into them.”

J: “It’s such a well-crafted play. You keep finding subtexts in Ronald’s writing and thinking ‘Blimey, that’s clever of him’.”

M: “It’s got a great rhythm to it and you get such an insight into most of the people in the company. You see where everybody is in the hierarchy.”

J: “And it’s written with great love, I think. You get a real sense of how much he loved that world.”

* I premiered in 1980. Does it feel timely now?

J: “There are lots of timely things about it. There’s a war going on in the play and the whole Covid thing is like a war without bombs.”

M: “I feel a bit of a fraud because people have gone through terrible things and I’ve had a lovely time. I loved lockdown.”

J: “I liked the whole slowing down, although I might have hated it if I didn’t have two books to write. That gave me a creative outlet. And I fell into a routine with the dogs, cooking my husband’s dinner and going to bed early. But then I’m 62. I’m sure if you were 18 it was tragic.”

M: “I watched Netflix from end to end. I’ve spent 54 years on the road so to be forced to sit back, do nothing and contemplate life was thrilling.”

* When were you last on stage?

J: “I did six weeks of cabaret last summer, it was great. You think ‘I wonder if I can remember what to do’ but it took me about 30 seconds to be in my element. I’ve been hosting cabaret shows in London this year and it’s lovely to be back in front of audiences.”

M: “In November I was asked to do a Peter Barnes monologue for streaming from the Theatre Royal, Windsor, and when I got there I realised how much I’d missed the stage. It was a miserable day, there was nobody in the audience and only four people on stage, wearing masks and social distancing - and it was fantastic to be back.”

* The Dresser is at the Alhambra February 8-12. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk