The Search for Meaning in a Labyrinth of Anxiety
Placing the situation of 'theatre within theatre' at the center of events, Ronald Harwood, in the comedic drama 'The Dresser', written in the early eighties, explores the meanings and functions of creating theatrical art, especially in times of social crisis, keeping in mind that the action takes place during World War II. Actors of a faltering theatre group, crippled by wartime (human) losses, perform 'King Lear', led by an actor with severely impaired health, while his dresser guides him through this personal labyrinth of anxiety and confusion, lighting the way (symbolically) in the darkness, showing him the path he should take.