[THEATRE REVIEW] BETTE & JOAN @ Ensemble Theatre Review (2026)
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, which generally refers to the period from the late 1920s to the early ‘60s, with the peak in the ‘30s and ‘40s, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were regarded as royalty.
Both were nothing if not colourful characters.
Davis, whose maxim was “no guts, no glory” was wed four times and had three children. She was nominated for 11 Oscars and received two.
Crawford, whose motto was “if you want the girl next door, go next door” also married four times and had four children. She was nominated for three Academy Awards and received one.
Writer Anton Burge has taken their supposed rivalry and antipathy towards one another when starring opposite each other in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and tightened the screws.
Producers considered both over the hill in their forties, so making a successful movie together in their fifties – which both were at the time – certainly bucked the trend.
With their careers in decline and Davis, in particular, needing the money, it was Crawford who approached her with the project.
Mind you, that didn’t result in the hostilities between them thawing.
Rather, their claws were out. Both stood ready to strike at a moment’s notice and they took every opportunity to undermine one another.
Davis bemoaned the fact that Crawford didn’t receive any formal training and didn’t cut her teeth on the stage.
Davis had written into her contract that her name appeared first and above the title.
During the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? both tried to outpoint each other in terms of their sway with director Robert Aldrich.
Although this play doesn’t concentrate on him, I had the impression that for Aldrich, having to successfully navigate this pairing was akin to trying to herd cats.
Sharing a dressing room, the barbs between foul-mouthed Davis and neat-freak, germ phobic Crawford, who implored Davis to greet her and farewell her each day, were unrelenting.
But their icy relationship went further than mere insults.
According to Anton Burge, it was reported that Crawford tied weights to herself when Davis had to lift her because Davis had recently broken her back.
Also, apparently, Davis’ stiletto heel contacted Crawford’s skull when Davis had to kick Crawford across the floor during filming.
While the pot shots are the central focus, there is also a sadness in Bette & Joan, as the pair exposes their great loves, their regrets and false steps.
Their lives are laid bare and, beyond the bravado, as the saying goes, it ain’t all pretty – in fact far from it.
Still, they continue to rub each other up the wrong way.
With no beg pardons, Jeanette Cronin and Lucia Mastrantone go toe to toe for 100 minutes (the play runs for two hours, including interval).
A lot of words are spoken in this insightful piece about always looking for the upper hand.
Cronin channels bold and brazen with aplomb, as she metaphorically stalks her prey.
Mastrantone fits effortlessly into her role as the quirkier of the pair, who holds herself a cut above Davis’ vitriol.
The different angles on the dressing room set in each Act, presented by set and costume designer Grace Deacon, works well.
These “exposés” of the two leading ladies sees them regularly exposed in their underwear.
In another nice piece of staging, black and white footage from Davis and Crawford’s film roles (with Cronin and Mastrantone again appearing as the leading ladies) are interspersed with their back-and-forth exchanges.
The video designer is Cameron Smith.
Director Liesel Badorrek keeps the action flowing in the wrestle for supremacy that is the cornerstone of Bette & Joan, as they fight to remain relevant in the public eye.
It is on at Ensemble Theatre until 25th April, 2026.
Review by Alex First Photography by Prudence Upton