Her debut stage play, Beryl began as a radio play, Beryl: A Love Story on Two Wheels, in which Maxine also starred. It was adapted for the stage in 2014, premiering at Leeds Playhouse coinciding with the start of the Tour de France in Yorkshire. With the cast of four multi-rolling and a galloping pace through the remarkable life (58 years’ duration) and sporting career (over 25 years’ duration) of an enthusiast-turned-world-champion – whose record stood unbeaten for 50 years – this production has a festival and slightly fringe sketch-show feel to it in parts, but is squarely in the realm of polished professional theatre. Beryl is not a revolution of dramatic form but its subject, Beryl Burton was nothing less than revolutionary and worthy of interest for everyone. The play’s writing is no unprecedented triumph of prose or poetry; it progresses in a linear fashion and sometimes veers into hagiography and at other times goofs about with meta-theatrical nods and improv-style in-jokes, but the story, with its blend of gags and dramatic moments, is winning and apt. The audience is treated to the occasional nugget of social context: for example, the time-trial event was invented in response to landed gentry opposing working class cyclists exercising on public highways to such an extent that they routinely hounded them with pliant mounted police officers. If you are poised to extract an allegory of the British class system from the story of the evolution of UK cycling with Beryl Burton as its protagonist, you absolutely can. But nothing in this production shoves a moral down your throat. Billington, Michael (11 February 2015). "How to Hold Your Breath review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015 . Retrieved 28 February 2015. Miss Julie Cast List" (PDF). Royal Exchange Theatre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2014 . Retrieved 3 March 2012. In September Peake will play Hamlet in a gender-bending production at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. She's reluctant to reveal too much but says: "We're of the mindset that gender is not important. It's Hamlet, but a Hamlet confused about their gender. Whether we'll play that overtly, or whether I will keep it as a secret, I don't know yet. Sometimes it's good as an actor to have a secret that nobody else knows. I think I'll be a man, but somebody who has equal quantity of male and female."

The production is directed by Coliseum Artistic Director Chris Lawson, designed by Irene Jade, with lighting design by Will Evans, sound design by Eliyana Evans and projection design by the theatre’s Digital Associate Grant Archer.Aged 11, a serious illness left her with a weakened heart. Doctors warned against strenuous exercise for the rest of her life. Peake is a feminist and socialist. She was active in communist organisations during her youth and a member of the Communist Party of Britain. [42] In January 2014 Peake won the first Bolton Socialist Club Outstanding Contribution to Socialism Award for using her work to oppose the government's "crippling austerity measures". [43] Billington, Michael (27 June 2002). "Mother Teresa is Dead". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015 . Retrieved 8 April 2015. Behind the Scenes of Queens of the Coal Age". Savvy Productions. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013 . Retrieved 8 April 2015.

Describing Beryl as a "gentle" play, Peake says her aim was simple: "What I wanted with Beryl, all I wanted really, was a celebration of this amazing woman and her amazing achievements." I could relate to Beryl, I’m no where near as dedicated to my profession as Beryl was to cycling but as a woman, I could relate to how much more you have to train at something and how difficult it is for a woman because of all the other commitments in life, it’s doubly hard. And the criticism you can get for being that focused and single-minded about something.” Beryl Burton was an English racing cyclist and one of Britain's greatest ever athletes during the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. She dominated women's cycle racing in the UK, Best British all rounder for 25 successive years and twice world competition holder at 3000 metres. Now a docudrama has been written about her for Radio Four by the actress Maxine Peake, it is the first drama that Maxine has written and she also plays the character of Beryl. It is called "Beryl: A Love Story on two Wheels" and will be on Radio Four on Tuesday, 27th November at 2.15pm. Maxine is joined by Charlie Burton, Beryl's husband, and they talk about the life of this great cyclist and the new docudrama. The interview was amazing, they were so generous and informative. It was inspiring to listen to them talk about Beryl. Philby, Charlotte (8 March 2008). "My Secret Life: Maxine Peake, actress, 33". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008.Maxine Peake Stalks the Fat Whites..." The Guardian. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015 . Retrieved 9 April 2015. Maxine’s play inspired many people outside of the cycling community and not just to start cycling, but as women to follow their passions. Peake portrayed Moors murderer Myra Hindley in See No Evil: The Moors Murders, which was broadcast in May 2006. [11] In January 2009, Peake appeared in her first major feature film role, as Angela, in the film Clubbed. Peake wrote, directed and starred in the play Beryl: A Love Story On Two Wheels about the life of the Leeds-born cyclist Beryl Burton, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012. [15] [16] In 2014, Peake adapted her play for the stage. Entitled simply Beryl, it was commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse, where it ran in June and July 2014 to coincide with the start of the Tour de France in Leeds. [17] The play returned in June and July 2015 and toured across England in Autumn 2015. [18] Peake wrote a later play called Queens of the Coal Age again for Radio 4 that told the story of Anne Scargill and three other women who tried to occupy a coal mine in 1993. [19]

If she was a man, everybody would know about her," said actor Maxine Peake, who has written Beryl, a four-hander which will open at the West Yorkshire Playhouse at the end of this month. (An eight-wheeler, really, because all of the characters are on bikes.) The play began life on the radio with Peake in the main role. She had been given Burton's biography as a gift from her art director boyfriend, Pawlo. Peake has appeared in many television and stage productions, including Victoria Wood's dinnerladies, Channel 4's Shameless, in the lead role of barrister Martha Costello in the BBC's legal drama Silk and alongside John Simm in the BBC drama The Village, depicting life in a Derbyshire village during the First World War. [10] Following career advice from Victoria Wood, between the two series of dinnerladies, Peake lost so much weight that an explanation had to be written into the script for her character, Twinkle. [5] In 2012, Peake played the title role in Miss Julie at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, [12] and previously played the part of Kristin in a 2000 production. [13] She played Doll Tearsheet in the BBC2 adaptations of Henry IV, Parts I and II. [14]Beryl Burton is quite possibly the most successful woman you've never heard of. She dominated cycling in the '50s, '60s and '70s, becoming world pursuit champion, national pursuit champion, road racing world champion, national road racing champion, British record holder, world record holder, an MBE and an OBE. What's even more remarkable is that Beryl had a heart condition and early in her life doctors had advised that she could never take part in strenuous activities. The Mask of Anarchy". Manchester International Festival. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015 . Retrieved 8 April 2015. Mcnulty, Bernadette (4 August 2015). "Maxine Peake on Leaving London". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 4 April 2021.