Anton Burge

Anton Burge has written ten plays championing roles for women in theatre. His work has been performed worldwide and includes Bette & Joan, starring Greta Scacchi and Anita Dobson (West End); Storm in a Flower Vase, starring Penny Downie (West End); and Mrs. Pat, starring Dame Penelope Keith (Chichester Festival Theatre). His first contemporary play, Year of the Virgin, was read at the Charing Cross Theatre, London, starring Sian Thomas. Other readings include Lady Mosley’s Suite (read at the Trafalgar Theatre with Patricia Hodge and Emilia Fox) and Curtsey! (read at the Park Theatre, London with Sophie Ward and Sylvestra Le Touzel). Bette & Joan was recently revived at the Park Theatre, London, and opened in Australia at The Ensemble Theatre, Sydney, in 2026. His book, Portraying Elizabeth: Elizabeth I on Stage & Screen, was published in 2020 as a study of depictions of Elizabeth I and featuring interviews with Glenda Jackson, Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Harriet Walter and Miranda Richardson. A Life Lived in Melodrama: Bette Davis in 134 Characters was published in 2024. Turning into ‘The Lady’ - Margaret Thatcher on Stage & Screen will be published later this year, featuring interviews with Dame Maureen Lipman, Patricia Hodge and Haydn Gwynne. Under the Covers, his new play, highlights the plight of library closures in rural communities. He is currently at work on a biography of Diana Mosley and the second part of his Dame & Dedlock crime series.