DramaLondonReview

Bette & Joan – Park Theatre, London

Reviewer: Maryam Philpott

Writer: Anton Burge

Director: Sue Jenkins

‘Battling Bette’ and ‘Perfectionist’ Joan return to the stage with the Park Theatre’s revival of Anton Burge’s play set in the dressing rooms of Davis and Crawford on the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Full of gossipy detail about their lives and their ongoing feud that has spawned many dramatic treatments, Burge builds his play around the difference – as Davis sees it – between being an actress with stage training and a movie star with none, a theme illuminated by characterful performances from Greta Scacchi and Felicity Dean.

Nearing the end of their film, stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford remain as prickly with one another as ever, and during a single day on set, there are (fake) tears, tantrums and deliberate sabotage as the pair tries to scupper the other’s performance and do a little real-life damage along the way. But do they have more in common than they realise, enough even to call a truce?

Burge’s play is built around specific movie references, and those familiar with the plot and famous scenes in Robert Aldrich’s 1962 film will enjoy spotting the clear associations as the actresses prepare for some of the key scenes. For others, the play also folds out into a kind of dual biography in which Bette and Joan narrate parts of their lives to the audience as anecdotes and asides, as well as engaging in dialogue together in the moment. The catfights and bitter snipes are fun, but in Sue Jenkins’ new production, the moments of solidarity and vulnerability are even better, cutting beneath the point-scoring to reveal two lonely but powerful women who have everything and yet nothing that they really want.

And this blends strongly into the two performances, which become quite transparent attempts to convince the audience to like the speaker best and think less of their co-star. Dean’s Crawford is all ladylike refinement, capturing a great deal of her character’s voice and style without impersonation but also filled with subtle detail, including an obsession with germs and cleaning that proves a consistent tic. Scrupulously polite, this Crawford looks down on Bette while clearly harbouring some jealousy, a terrier underneath but concerned enough with appearance to smooth it all over and convince herself she is taking the high road.

Scacchi doesn’t quite find the tone of Davis’ voice but has captured everything else, from the broader enunciation and vocal delivery to the much looser physicality and rougher pragmatism that make her Davis such a force. Davis here is arrogant about her talent and candid about the life she has lived, but Scacchi also digs down into the pressures Davis feels to support her family, to keep working and how the games with Crawford feed her fragile self-esteem.

The play does rely on these two performances to maintain momentum, particularly in the second act when filming is done for the day, and Burge’s narrative starts to meander back to first husbands and similar misty memories that are there for a completist biography rather than emerging from this very particular experience on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. But Neil Gordon’s wonderful double dressing room set is perfect for Park 90, bringing the audience right into the character’s lives and makes us co-conspirators in their mutual bitterness. Crawford might look around Hollywood and declare, “There are no stars anymore,” but Scacchi and Dean have brought them back to life.

Runs until 11 January 2025

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The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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