Bette & Joan

Synopsis

Anita Dobson and Greta Scacchi star as screen divas and rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford go head to head in Anton Burge's new play, Bette and Joan based on their legendary fued.

Directed by Bill Alexander, Bette & Joan sees the stars at the low points of their careers meet on the set of Whatever happened to Baby Jane?. A high risk shocker, the film becomes a surprise hit that propels them back to stardom. However, it was the between takes fighting between Davis and Crawford which has become the stuff of legend!

Anita Dobson was last seen in the West End in Tim Firth's Calendar Girls. Her other theatre credits include the title role in the UK tour of Hello Dolly and her 2004 Whatsonstage.com Award-winning performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Shaftesbury Theatre. She is perhaps best known for playing Angie Watts in Eastenders, alcoholic landlady of the Queen Vic until 1988.

Greta Scacchi starred in Michael Blakemore's West End revival of Uncle Vanya and her recent stage credits include Peter Hall's Bath Theatre Royal production of Private Lives. Her film work included Heat and Dust,  White Mischief, Presumed Innocent and The Player. 
 
Bette & Joan director Bill Alexander has worked extensively with The Royal Shakespeare Company. He was artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre between 1992 and 2002. His production of The Snowman is performed in London's West End every year.

Whatsonstage.com have some great deals and availability on Bette & Joan Arts Theatre tickets so follow the buy tickets links for this limited season.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 11 May 2011

Bette and Joan – that’s Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, not Bette Bourne and Joan Collins, alas – occupy adjacent dressing rooms on the Hollywood set during the shooting of their come-back movie in 1962, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

They bitch and reminisce in the guise of Anita Dobson as Joan and Greta Scacchi as Bette, and this goes on for two hours. Some of it’s funny, most of it’s not, and you’re soon pining for something far more camp and outrageous, perhaps a little audience participation.

The famous feud only prospered in the absence of the other party, so there’s no interaction whatsoever in Anton Burge’s play, which is a scissors and paste job on the cuttings and biographies, dutifully and dully directed by Bill Alexander, and served up at the Arts with a certain amount of low level razzmatazz but zero momentum.

Scacchi gets the drawl and the bite of Davis, and a vague physical resemblan...

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Latest User Review

JP - 25 June 2011:

At the recommendation of an LBC broadcaster I went to see the performance on friday 24th June - and what an absolutely delightful night was enjoyed! -Fabulous acting, extremely amusing and some touching moments too. Such a shame the run is coming to an end as I would have loved to have recommended it to other friends....

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