Starz’s The Dresser Gets May 30 Premiere

BEVERLY HILLS: Richard Eyre’s adaptation of Ronald Harwood’s play The Dresser, starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins, has been slated to premiere on Starz on May 30 at 9 p.m.

The Dresser will also be made available simultaneously on May 30 for Starz subscribers on Starz Play and StarzOn Demand in the U.S. The Dresser brings McKellen and Hopkins together on screen for the first time in their careers. It also marks Hopkins’ first appearance in a television drama in more than 20 years.

The Dresser tells the story of one fateful night, backstage in a small regional theater during World War II, as a troupe of touring actors stages a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Bombs are falling, sirens are wailing, the curtain is up in an hour but the actor/manager “Sir” (Hopkins) who is playing Lear is nowhere to be seen. His dresser “Norman” (McKellen) must scramble to make sure the show goes on.

Starz retains all U.S. multiplatform pay-TV rights as well as worldwide multiplatform distribution rights to The Dresser. BBC retains U.K. television rights.