Now known for penning award-winning screenplays - and, indeed, for writing this play - Ronald Harwood used to be a 'dresser' to the stars. He knew what it was like to be subjugated to every whim and desire of theatre's leading men. He used these experiences to inform this 1980 drama about someone in his former position.

Set over one night in an unnamed provincial town in Blitz-era England, the piece tracks the progress of that evening's performance of King Lear. The eponymous lead is played by "Sir" (Colin Burnie), a cantankerous, yet lovable, old curmudgeon getting older disgracefully. He is ably assisted by brandy-nipping Norman (Alexander Rogers), who is fiercely protective of his master. Without Norman, "Sir" would have been written off as a has-been. For better or for worse, he pleads and cajoles the ageing actor on to the stage night after night. It becomes increasingly apparent, however, that there are to be terrible consequences for this increasingly co-dependent relationship.

The Dresser is essentially about duplicity and performance, on and off stage. Thematically, it's teasingly tangled - is the theatre a metaphor for the co-dependence and usury between the two leads, or vice versa? Harwood lulls the audience into a false sense of security with a warm, witty and nostalgic first half, before exposing the character's melancholy, loneliness and fruitless passions in the second half.

The Oxford Theatre Guild put on a fine production. Rogers's portrayal of Norman is full of nervous energy, while Burnie's "Sir" is equal parts vainglory and misery. The supporting cast are equally strong, with Helen Taylor's slightly underwritten role of stage manager Madge being particularly memorable. Director Sue Baxter uses the modest stage space well, especially during scenes that require action to take place outside the central location of the dressing room.

If there are faults, they are with the play; on occasion the tone veers too suddenly, and Harwood tends to overwrite some of his dialogue, with a little too much self-conscious quoting from Shakespeare. However, otherwise this is a fine production of an intelligent, entertaining play. It continues until tomorrow evening at the OFS Studio.