The much anticipated two hander Bette & Joan has opened at the Ensemble Theatre, where we see two of Sydney’s finest actresses engage in a two-hour battle of wits as they fight to preserve their carefully curated images.
Set on the eve of the collapse of the once mighty studio system, it is the story of the chain-smoking duo of Bette Davis (Jeanette Cronin) and Joan Crawford (Lucia Mastrantone) being forced into a collision with each other’s world as they complete the film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The only thing that they have in common is that they were at different times the stars of their respective studios, and as their working relationship develops, so does their antipathy towards each other.
Davis was from a well-to-do east coast family who had honed her craft on Broadway, before becoming a leading lady in Hollywood, while Crawford’s father was a construction worker and her early career was as dancer.
With their carefully and skilfully constructed physical visages and ability to inhabit a broad range of roles, with the help of Warner Brothers and MGM they were at the top the Hollywood pile.
But by 1961, and now in their early fifties, they both find themselves in what was a B-grade psycho-thriller. Despite their reservations, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a smash, but the play’s action takes place before we know this.
First performed in 2011, Bette & Joan by English playwright Anton Burge, has had many European productions, including the 2024 London version featuring Greta Scacchi and Felicity Dean.
Cronin and Mastrantone are well matched in this production, both bearing some physical resemblance to the screen actresses and more than capable of navigating the changing moods from outright hostility to each other and to what we take as their moments of introspection as they examine their own lives, lovers and roles in the studio system.
Director Liesel Badorrek has helmed a well-paced production, with only two costume changes and one scene change from set designer Grace Deacon. Her set of two makeup tables, which are adjacent in the first half, are moved in the second half to be looking at each other, and helps to ramp up the tension between the actresses.
Video designer Cameron Smith’s work of simple projection of live action and flashbacks of memorable moments is used sparingly and augments the production well. Ross William’s incidental music and sound design compliments this beautifully, being at once understated and impactful at the right moments.
Costume designer Renata Beslik, at first has the actresses in dressing robes, and in Cronin’s case, a wig that is instantly recognisable as Bette, before transforming themselves into the public versions of themselves, including Mastrantone’s Joan with power shoulders.
It is camp, and hugely nostalgic as we are taken inside a time and place so different to today’s world, but one where many of the issues of power imbalances, misogyny and the lust for fame are still pertinent.
That the production does not quite make it to the sizzle stage we might expect from these two very capable actresses is due to the script and its use of short grabs of dialogue to keep everything moving forward.
The result is a production that is often played on a similar note, rather than delving deeper into each character’s psychological makeup, but despite this, Bette and Joan is two hours of entertainment where two great actresses shine.
BETTE & JOAN
Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli
Performance: Wednesday 25 March 2026
Season continues to 25 April 2026
Information and Bookings: www.ensemble.com.au
Images: Jeanette Cronin and Lucia Mastrantone – photo by Prudence Upton | Jeanette Cronin and Lucia Mastrantone – photo by Prudence Upton | Lucia Mastrantone – photo by Prudence Upton | Jeanette Cronin – photo by Prudence Upton
Review: John Moyle