Bette And Joan *** TNT

Claws are discreetly sheathed when silver screen icons Bette Davis and Joan Crawford come face to face in Anton Burge’s mildly entertaining two-hander.

Behind the scenes in their mirror-image dressing rooms, though, it’s no holds barred bitching during filming of their 1962 comeback movie “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Anita Dobson’s discreetly smirking, soignée Crawford (her animosity wrapped in modulated tones and cultivated manners) contrasts strongly with Greta Scacchi’s clumping Davis, the former working overtime to preserve her star image, the latter an actress to her fingertips who isn’t afraid to look the part, no matter how monstrous.

Burge doesn’t probe very deeply – biographical details are tantalisingly scant, the interaction between the two limited - but a fair scattering of witty one-liners and malicious observations are delivered with commendable relish.

Arts Theatre, Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB (020 7907 7092)Tube: Leicester Square Until June 25 (£20-£34.50)