Review: Bette And Joan - The Jewish Chronicle

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis found fame and fortune in their heyday and then came up against the wall of chauvinism that prevents good actresses from getting decent roles when they reach middle age. The same might be said of Anita Dobson - formerly Angie Watts in EastEnders - and '80s film star Greta Scacchi. The latter pair play the former pair with some style in Anton Burge's biographical play.

Burge sets his often funny drama in Davis's and Crawford's adjoining dressing rooms as they prepare for their comeback movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

At stake are the careers that studio chief Jack Warner described as washed up. So it is in the stars' interest to put aside a long-running feud that was fuelled more by a personality clash than professional rivalry.

The difference between the two Hollywood legends is defined even by the way they walk. Dobson's poised Crawford glides while Scacchi's unflattering Davis galumphs around the dressing room as she slaps on the grotesque white make-up and blonde wig of the ageing former child star, Baby Jane.

Having opted to write solid but uninspired monologues, Burge breathes life into the over-used form by wittily interlocking speeches so each star's bitchy comments about the other are variously undermined and confirmed. Inevitably, Bill Alexander's well-paced production settles into longish exposition about family history. There is more of Davis in Scacchi than there is of Crawford in Dobson, but this is still a chance for fans to get intimate with two of cinema's greatest stars.