“Bette & Joan, Jane and Blanche”
Julia Newbould
3 Stars
Venue : Ensemble Theatre
Sydney
Dates: Until April 25th
My relationship with Bette David and Joan Crawford started through my Saturday night date, Bill Collins. I was a fan, mainly of Bette (Now Voyager, The Little Foxes, Dark Victory, Jezebel), but who could resist Joan in her soapie roles in Mildred Pierce and Humoresque.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) was never a favourite of mine, and the glamour of their 30s and 40s Hollywood was well over by then. Baby Jane was a grand guignol vehicle of a child actress gone mad with jealousy over older sister Blanche. Baby Jane was the family star whose career faded as Blanche’s rose. After a horrible accident, where Blanche was left crippled, the two sisters lived together in a neglected mansion.
The film pitched the two fading movie stars, Bette and Joan, in a movie mirroring their own dimming popularity. The two had always been pitted against each other by the studios – competing for the same roles, both wanting their own Oscars. Joan won in the glamour stakes while Bette in the talent.
And this is where Anton Burge’s play comes in. First performed in 2011, the behind-the-scenes expose Bette and Joan focuses on the legendary feuding between the two actresses – stars struggling to maintain their position in a Hollywood which has also moved on.
Despite needing each other, Bette and Joan constantly snipe at each other, reopening old wounds on borrowed boyfriends (Franchot Tone) stolen roles (Humoresque), and exposed secrets.
The first half of the play reflects the actors posturing: each wanting to claim the upper hand with the director (who is never seen). Cheap shots are taken – Bette accuses Joan of getting to where she is via the casting couch. Joan is glamorous and focused on keeping her manners and Hollywood glamour image intact and disparaging of Bette’s frumpiness. Bette is disparaging of Joan’s talents as an actress.
Burge has lifted from the Hollywood lore of the enmity of the two, and their shenanigans on set as the drama of the play, including Joan tying weights to herself when Bette had to lift her because Bette was recovering from a broken back. But the play explores more than that.
His play explores the themes of ageing and the price women pay for trying to stay relevant. Times have not changed, women still fight for relevancy as they age, looks are all important in Hollywood and beyond, and women are often pitted against each other – even when they should be working together to support each other. Bette and Joan are vulnerable and have been used as mere money makers by their loved ones. Their careers have dried up and they need money. Baby Jane is their last chance to reclaim a place in Hollywood. They need each other but cannot see past their feuding to realise their common ground and work together.
Every so often one of them lowers the mask and reveals a vulnerability to the other but they cannot maintain the camaraderie.
Bette & Joan is a tight two-hander with Jeanette Cronin as Bette Davis and Lucia Mastrantone as Joan Crawford.
Bette is an easier subject to inhabit. She has a distinctive voice and walk, and Cronin has the speech, the slurring, and the mannerisms of Davis down pat (she has played her before). Joan is a more difficult study. He voice is not as recognisable, not her mannerisms too pronounced. It was mainly her eyebrows which made her distinctive, and her over the top posturing. Mastrantone has made Joan softer and perhaps more human in her portrayal. Darker, thicker eyebrows would not have gone astray here. There was a lot of opportunity for hamming it up for both actresses and in the end, I wasn’t sure whether there was too much or too little.
Designer Grace Deacon has created a clever set for the play, it opens to two matching mirrored dressing rooms which suit the performance perfectly. The rooms are side by side in the first half but turn towards each other in the second half – mirroring their experiences. Deacon’s costumes give the two women their most identifiable silhouettes. Bette’s suit and white shirt were perfect in their familiarity and her white Baby Jane outfit sparked our memories. Joan’s wardrobe was perfect in colour and shape – the coats especially effective in providing the right posture for Joan.
The play starts with each in their dressing rooms in their undergarments – Joan in a corset and girdle combo, in which she was performing her exercise routine, and Bette in a fitted slip. This immediately identified the era and the sense of self each woman had.
A smart video accompaniment to the action was created by Cameron Smith, and black and white film was cleverly incorporated into the action. The film highlighted both the era, and the horror genre of the time.
While director Liesel Badorrek has done an admirable job of bringing together film, onstage drama and big performances, the play itself is uneven. The first half drags a little and we have to wait until the second half to enjoy most of the sparkling lines and see the characters develop in a more three-dimensional way.
Three Oscar nods.
Julia Newbould, Theatre Now
