Maxine Peake’s Beryl Burton play to open in London

The Maxine Peake play Beryl is to run at Kingston’s Rose Theatre from March 8 to 19. The production, which celebrates the life of cycling legend Beryl Burton, was recently nominated in the best new play category at the Manchester Theatre Awards.

Beryl started out as a Radio 4 play after Peake had been inspired by a book about the cyclist given to her by her boyfriend. It subsequently became a stage production and was performed during the Grand Depart cultural festival in Leeds.

Road.cc’s review of Beryl by Maxine Peake

Burton dominated women’s cycling in the UK throughout the Sixties and into the Seventies, winning seven world titles and also setting a 12-hour time trial record of 277.25 miles – a record that no man would beat for another two years and no woman has improved upon to this day.

Your Local Guardian reports that Rebecca Gatward will direct a cast including Samantha Power as Beryl Burton and Shameless actress Rebecca Ryan as her daughter Denise. Tickets are from £8 and are available from rosetheatrekingston.org