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West Yorkshire Playhouse
October 4, 2015 @ 7:30 PM
“BERYL
Maxine Peakeas charming and critically acclaimed play celebrates the life of Beryl Burton a the greatest woman on two wheels. Yorkshire woman Beryl Burton was five times world pursuit champion, thirteen times national champion, twice road-racing world champion and twelve times national champion. She was awarded an MBE and an OBE. She was one of the most astonishing sports people ever to have lived.
Beryl a Romance on Two Wheels tells the story of Berylas life, from working on a rhubarb farm to becoming the best British cycling all-rounder for 25 consecutive years and, in 1967, setting a 12 hour timetrial which has not been broken to this day. She caught up with Britains fastest male cyclist while setting it and, legend has it, offered him a liquorice allsort as she sailed past.
Rebecca Gatwardas freewheeling production features four actors playing multiple roles while improvising with the oily tools at hand. Beryl herself a woman who gives her absolute all, whether competing in East Germany or running the Hoover up the stairs; 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; and Denise, their daughter, who became a cycling champion in her own right. With just four talented performers & their bikes, Beryl evokes a sporting world before drugs and commercial sponsorship, a family pulling together against the odds, the admirable camaraderie and selflessness of the amateur cycling community and, at the centre of it all, one truly remarkable woman.
Target audience: Older audiences, women, mothers and daughters, cyclists and anyone who enjoys a strong story powerfully acted.
Maxine Peakeas compassionate homageâŠfour stars. The Guardian Burtonâs story ⊠brought to theatrically inventive and comically freewheeling life. The Daily Telegraph
The excellent four-strong cast employ some entertaining stagecraft to enliven a good-natured piece directed by Rebecca
Gatward ⊠brilliant moments âŠThe character of Burton obviously resonates strongly with [Maxine] Peake â strong, female northern and working class â and the piece ⊠offers a high quality local drama which clearly resonated with an appreciative hometown audience. The Independent”