Divine Mountebank

Divine Mountebank celebrates the life and work of Sir Donald Wolfit, last of the great actor-managers, and one of Nottingham’s most famous sons. Born in Newark, he appeared in the West End, at the RSC, on radio and television and in films and, with his own theatre company, brought Shakespeare to the masses.

Renowned for his over the top acting style and his larger than life personality, he ranked with Gielgud, Olivier, Redgrave and Richardson as one of the leading theatrical knights of the twentieth century.

Immortalised as ‘Sir’ in Donald Harwood’s play, The Dresser, his was a barnstorming and buccaneering talent which filled the stage with a sense of danger and excitement. Wolfit saw acting as a gladiatorial contest. His fellow actors and the audience were to be cajoled, seduced, bullied and browbeaten into submission, while he left the arena garlanded with laurels, the applause and cheers of a grateful public ringing in his ears. At his best, he was a very great actor, a virtuoso performer, whose King Lear was hailed as the greatest of all time. Fundamentally flawed, but quintessentially human, Wolfit was a complex character - a mixture of angel and demon, of overweening pride and uncharacteristic humility - a man who considered himself more sinned against than sinning.

Wolfit was an actor of the old school, who believed fervently in the life enhancing power of the theatre and refused to suffer fools, or critics, gladly. Divine Mountebank allows him to have his say as he takes us back to an all but forgotten age in which every town had its own theatre, when every Sunday troupes of actors criss-crossed the country by train, and when the stars of the stage were household names. The eccentric world of music hall, professional theatre and the old touring companies comes vividly to life as Wolfit, with characteristic humour, relives and recreates some of his great stage triumphs and disasters, and remembers family and friends who helped to shape his life. He also engages the audience in a debate on the power and purpose of the theatre which, in the twenty-first century, has a contemporary resonance.

Based on Sir Donald Wolfit: His Life and Work in the Unfashionable Theatre by Ronald Harwood and Sir Donald Wolfit’s autobiography First Interval, Divine Mountebank does not offer an impersonation of the actor - he was too inimitable a character for that. What the play tries to do is give a flavour of what it was like to be a man, in the early years of the last century, struggling against the odds - defying parental opposition and the hostility of the theatrical establishment - who, through dint of hard work and self-belief, triumphed in his chosen profession and greatly enhanced the theatrical life of the nation. It is hoped that this portrait of him is, if nothing else, a fair one for he was perhaps too harshly judged by his critics and too frequently misunderstood by his contemporaries.

The play is set in a dressing room in the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End. It is 1967 and Sir Donald Wolfit has taken over the role of Mr Barrett from John Clements in Robert and Elizabeth, a hit musical based on the love story of the Victorian poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. After a long and illustrious career, it will be his last appearance in the West End and his last acting role. Before curtain up, Wolfit takes pause to reflect on his long and illustrious career in theatre, film and television, in the process revisiting some of his most famous roles and recalling the people and personalities who helped him become one of the twentieth century’s greatest actors.

Performance History

Divine Mountebank: Sir Donald Wolfit Last of the great actor-managers was first presented by Eastwood Productions in association with Nottingham Arts Theatre at Nottingham Arts Theatre on 9th September 2003 with the following cast:

Sir Donald Wolfit - Fraser Wanless
The play was directed by Campbell Kay

Divine Mountebank later toured the Midlands and was also performed at The Robin Hood Theatre, Averham, a venue which Sir Donald Wolfit endowed having made his first stage performance there.

Praise for Divine Mountebank

‘A wonderful evening in the theatre’ - BBC Radio

‘Fraser Wanless looks the part, with black brows and back-brushed helmet of steel coloured hair. He sounds the part too... the loud, fruity delivery... impressive, with exemplary timing.’ - Nottingham Evening Post

‘This celebration of the life and work of Sir Donald Wolfit was superbly written by and directed by Campbell Kay. It had a full range of emotions from comedy to pathos and was full of interest throughout... This was an excellent performance, sustained from start to finish. A very memorable evening of entertainment.’ - NODA Magazine

‘Simply divine. Actor Fraser Wanless deserved an Oscar for his outstanding performance of the late great actor-manager Sir Donald Wolfit... The play had everything you could think of - pace, variety, a simple but effective set, nice appropriate period costumes, great acting and wonderful stage direction.’ - Newark Advertiser