Anita Dobson and Greta Scacchi to Star as Screen Icons Bette & Joan on the London Stage

Anton Burge’s new play Bette & Joan, based on the long-boiling feud between legendary film stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, has found its leading ladies: Anita Dobson and Greta Scacchi. The world premiere play will begin performances at London’s Arts Theatre on May 5, 2011, directed by Bill Alexander.

Bette & Joan is set during the making of Davis and Crawford’s 1961 movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and revisits their now infamous fifty year feud.

Dobson is best known for her role in BBC soap opera Eastenders; her London theater credits include Calendar Girls, Hamlet and Frozen, for which she earned an Olivier Award nomination. Scacchi is an Emmy Award winner for her role in HBO mini-series Rasputin; among her many UK stage credits are Uncle Vanya on the West End and Peter Hall's Bath Theatre Royal production of Private Lives.

The show's limited engagement will run until June 25, 2011.