Beryl (Modern Plays)

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Deans, Jason (13 July 2010). "Maxine Peake to star in BBC1 legal drama Silk". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014 . Retrieved 4 June 2014. For me it reminds me of being a kid. It reminds me of going out on my bike, all day, getting lost, cycling for miles and then going ‘do you know where we are? Wilkinson, Michael (1 February 2016). "Celebrities to tour Britain in 'Jeremy Corbyn For Prime Minister' musical show". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016 . Retrieved 15 July 2017. Cherry Orchard". What's on Stage. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015 . Retrieved 8 April 2015.

Gardner, Lyn (12 May 2007). "Leaves of Glass". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 . Retrieved 8 April 2015. With the cast of four multi-rolling and a galloping pace through the remarkable life (58 years’ duration) and sporting career (over 25 years’ duration) of an enthusiast-turned-world-champion – whose record stood unbeaten for 50 years – this production has a festival and slightly fringe sketch-show feel to it in parts, but is squarely in the realm of polished professional theatre. Beryl is not a revolution of dramatic form but its subject, Beryl Burton was nothing less than revolutionary and worthy of interest for everyone. The play’s writing is no unprecedented triumph of prose or poetry; it progresses in a linear fashion and sometimes veers into hagiography and at other times goofs about with meta-theatrical nods and improv-style in-jokes, but the story, with its blend of gags and dramatic moments, is winning and apt. The audience is treated to the occasional nugget of social context: for example, the time-trial event was invented in response to landed gentry opposing working class cyclists exercising on public highways to such an extent that they routinely hounded them with pliant mounted police officers. If you are poised to extract an allegory of the British class system from the story of the evolution of UK cycling with Beryl Burton as its protagonist, you absolutely can. But nothing in this production shoves a moral down your throat. What’s even more remarkable is that Beryl had a heart condition and early in her life doctors had advised that she could never take part in strenuous activities. Beryl’s story is just one. How many more female stories are out there? How many more amazing women who have achieved, that we don’t know about are out there?

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Peake starred as Nellie in Mike Leigh's 2018 film, Peterloo, based on the events of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester. [32]

Hamlet Review". The Guardian. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015 . Retrieved 8 April 2015. Peake's early attempts to enter the acting profession were unsuccessful. She was rejected by every theatre education company in North West England, [8] and tried unsuccessfully for three years to get into Manchester Polytechnic Theatre School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. [ citation needed] However, at 21, she obtained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Her attempts to find sponsorship for her study at RADA were the subject of a 1996 documentary by The South Bank Show. Eventually, after being put forward by RADA, she was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship. [5] [9] Career [ edit ] Peake (right) with Jerry Brotton and Paapa Essiedu at the 2016 Hay Festival Beryl Burton is quite possibly the most successful woman you’ve never heard of. She dominated cycling in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, becoming world pursuit champion, national pursuit champion, road racing world champion, national road racing champion, British record holder, world record holder, an MBE and an OBE. a b Abraham, Richard (20 November 2012). "BBC to broadcast Beryl Burton radio drama". Cycling Weekly. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014 . Retrieved 4 June 2014.

Peake's writing is full of funny and caring moments, which are all realised by the cast with dedication ... it is impossible to puncture the play's warmth” – BroadwayWorld UK Maxine’s play is very much about Beryl competing against herself. Suffering with health problems in childhood and then discovering she had a heart arrhythmia and told that sport would not be possible for her. I could relate to Beryl, I’m no where near as dedicated to my profession as Beryl was to cycling but as a woman, I could relate to how much more you have to train at something and how difficult it is for a woman because of all the other commitments in life, it’s doubly hard. And the criticism you can get for being that focused and single-minded about something.” From running on rugby league fields to acting on the Hollywood big screen". Fox Sports. 11 December 2013 . Retrieved 11 December 2013.

Aged 30, branded ‘the Yorkshire housewife’ and with no financial sponsorship, she became the first sportswoman in history to break a men’s competitive record. Rebecca Gatward's freewheeling production has a workshop feel – a bicycle workshop, that is – as four actors adopt multiple roles while improvising with the oily tools at hand. Penny Layden's Beryl shows the commitment of a woman who gives her absolute all, whether competing in East Germany or running the Hoover up the stairs. John Elkington gives a stoic portrayal of Charlie, her husband and soigneur, which is cyclist parlance for the bloke who trains, tinkers and hands out baby bottles of rice pudding along the route. Above all, you come away with a sense of the admirable camaraderie and selflessness of the amateur cycling community. We see Beryl's closest female rival loan her a better, faster bike. And the staging of the notorious liquorice exchange shows Britain's fastest male cyclist – but only second-fastest overall – graciously accepting the gift. Under-funded and overlooked they may have been, but it takes allsorts to make a world. Only Artists (2018) , meets the musician and performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti. [88] Awards and nominations [ edit ] Year Raphael, Amy (3 October 2009). "Justice at last for Maxine Peake". The Guardian]. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Hope has started to grow': Maxine Peake on Corbyn, people power and Peterloo's radical legacy". TheGuardian.com. 17 October 2018.

Kate Rusby

Joyful, uplifting and utterly delightful ... Get on your bike and get to Dalston!” – LondonTheatre1 Beryl Burton was five times world-pursuit champion, thirteen times national champion, twice road-racing world champion and twelve times national champion. Her accolades include time trials, former world-record holder, former British record-holder, numerous sports awards an MBE and an OBE. Burton was one of the most astonishing sports people ever to have lived, but she remains something of a mystery.