● Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were the idol and diva couple whose reputation off-screen and off-stage has long eclipsed achievements on them. Their allure was partly due to their combination of raw talent and social mobility — Taylor was the offspring of socialite American parents, Burton the son of a Welsh miner and barmaid who scrapped his way to fame.
In at the National Theatre, director Sam Mendes and writer Jack Thorne deliver a rehearsal-room tale which reminds us that Burton-Taylor were forerunners of the double
