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Anton Burge

ANTON BURGE

  
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    The Artists Partnership  

Anton Burge is an actor and writer, whose first play, 'Whatever Happened to the Cotton Dress Girl?' a one woman show about the actress Bette Davis, marking her centenary, premiered in 2008 at the New end Theatre, Hampstead, staring Paula Wilcox. As a playwright he specialises in writing for women, about celebrated women, and has written five further plays including: 'Though I was a Wonderful Actress, No One Would engage Me Twice', a study of the celebrated Edwardian actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell and 'Bette & Joan', which opened at the Arts Theatre, London in 2011 starring Greta Scacchi as Bette and Anita Dobson as Joan, the play went on national tour in 2012. the play focuses on both stars of the cult classic 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' He is also at work on a biography of Bette Davis: 'A Life Lived in MeloDrama' and is working on a book of studies and interviews of actress' interpretations of Queen Elizabeth I: 'Portraying Elizabeth'; the interviewees include Anna Massey, Glenda Jackson, Greta Scacchi, eileen Atkins, Helen Baxendale, Miranda Richardson and Harriet Walter. anton has also written and illustrated two children's books: 'the Chelsea Cat's Christmas' and 'the Story of the First Queen Elizabeth'. In April 2009, to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, 'G & I~ Going into Battle with Gertrude Lawrence', a musical spotlighting Lawrence's war work with e.N.S.A. in 1944, opened at the New end Theatre, Hampstead for a five week run. It was hailed as one of the 'London Fringe successes of the year' by the Stage Magazine, and is to go on national tour in 2013 in a larger format as 'Gung Ho Gertie!' Other plays include 'Fanny's Burning' about the cookery writer Fanny Cradock and'Lady Mosley's Suite', a study of Diana Mosley's time in Holloway prison, the play was read in October 2010 at the Trafalgar Studios with a cast including emilia Fox, Patricia Hodge, Linda Marlow, Nicky Henson and Aden Gillett and is set to go into production in 2013. Future work includes a play about society florist Constance Spry and his first radio play about the writer Mary Wesley.

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below is a list of Anton Burge's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Bette And Joan         Fanny's Burning         G And I: Going Into Battle With Gertrude Lawrence         Lady Mosley's Suite         Mrs Pat         Storm in a Flower Vase         Though I Was A Wonderful Actress, No One Would Engage Me Twice         Whatever Happened To the Cotton Dress Girl?

Bette And Joan

Bette And Joan
Screen divas and rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford go head to head in a new play based on their legendary fued. the stars, both at low points at their careers, meet on the set of What ever Happened to Baby Jane?. the high risk shocker becomes a surprise hit that propels them back to stardom. Bette & Joan depicts the two stars, in adjacent dressing rooms, between takes on the set of Baby Jane. While Joan manages her anxiety by lacing her Pepsi with vodka and signing photographs for her beloved fans, Bette chain smokes and muses on her lovelife, and her ability to pick a decent script, never a decent man. Behind the bitching and the practical jokes we see each woman's insecurities and regrets, and their rivalry is revealed to be underpinned by grudging respect as they attempt to identify their new roles in life as well as in their careers.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Ann Pinnington Productions

1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
dramatic comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Fanny's Burning

Synopsis:
about the cookery writer Fanny Cradock

Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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G And I: Going Into Battle With Gertrude Lawrence

Synopsis:
a potted biography and a selection of Coward, Gershwin, Weil and Porter numbers that were associated with the West end and Broadway star of the 20s, 30s and 40s, Gertrude Lawrence.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Biographical musical

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Lady Mosley's Suite

Synopsis:
a study of Diana Mosley's time in Holloway prison

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mrs Pat

Mrs Pat
Legendary nineteenth-century actress Mrs Patrick Campbell has seen it, and been it, all. From her ground-breaking Hedda Gabler on the London stage, to leads on Broadway and heroines in Hollywood, Mrs Pat has travelled the globe playing the most passionate and rebellious roles. And it was not just on the stage she was witty, wilful and wild. Her off-stage life was equally dramatic. As flame, muse and equal to George Bernard Shaw, she inspired, and played, the very first Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. Financial hardship, artistic rejection, romantic loss and the agonising trials of aging, could not defeat this brave bohemian. But now, facing Europe's darkest hours, and with the Nazi Party closing in on Paris, Mrs Pat and her beloved dog, Moonbeam, stand before the unknown. As she waits to escape to rural France, this remarkable artist is determined not to go out lightly, as she recalls, for one last time, the highs and lows of a defiant and daring life.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
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1st Published:

Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
biographical play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Storm in a Flower Vase

Storm in a Flower Vase
Set in London in the 1930s, the play explores the early career of Constance Spry, founder of the celebrated business Floral Decorations that supplied floral arrangements to the upper ranks of society including the artist Gluck and interior decorator Syrie Maugham. Spry's unconventional relationships, professional ambition and the conflicting demands of career and domestic duties reveal the complex internal life of the woman later famed as a cook and inventor of the dish Coronation Chicken. Inspired by the biography The Surprising Life of Constance Spry by Sue Shephard, Storm in a Flower Vase is a powerful and moving piece examining themes of class, gender and sexuality that still have a profound resonance today.

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
Ann Pinnington Productions

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Though I Was A Wonderful Actress, No One Would Engage Me Twice

Synopsis:
a study of the celebrated Edwardian actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
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Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Whatever Happened To the Cotton Dress Girl?

Synopsis:
Bette Davis was born in 1908 in Lowell, Massachusetts. the script summarises the big moments in Miss Davis' life.
- Dominic Maxwell, the Times

Notes:
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1st Produced:

Organisations:
presented by ann Pinnington

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  4 women voices

Further Reference:

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