PERFECTLY-timed for the Tour De France’s Yorkshire Grand Depart, Maxine Peake’s Beryl comes to the West Yorkshire Playhouse where Leo Owen caught the show

Five times world champion, 13 times national champion, British and world record holder, honoured with an MBE and OBE... but few have heard of Beryl Burton. Maxine Peake's radio drama is adapted for the stage, premiering at The Yorkshire Playhouse close to her protagonist's humble Morley beginnings.

Seeking to educate the masses about this remarkable sportswoman Peake's play is brought to life by a versatile cast of four who play anywhere between four to 20 different roles to tell Beryl's story. The track-suited company walk around the stage to eventually park up bikes and get pedalling, together building an introduction to the titular character with their allocated word: “Beryl… Burton… Mother…” Their own admittance to knowing very little about Beryl before attending play auditions necessitates her story and helps form an early bond with the audience.

We're first shown a stubborn young Beryl competing with herself throwing a ball against a wall before caps and ties signify a school setting where a 10 year-old Beryl is about to take the 11 plus exam. After she collapses, she's rushed to hospital and is told she has rheumatic fever, temporarily paralysing her; one of the most significant points of her early life, after medical experts tell her vigorous exercise is out for the rest of her life and in doing so, prompt the beginnings of Beryl's life-long “mind over matter” mantra.

Cast narrate gaps in Beryl’s tale as she leaves school at 15 to work in a bike shop and projected backdrops appear to move the story along. In her first job we see Beryl (Penny Layden) instantly clicking with Charlie Burton (John Elkington) who persuades her to join the local cycle club – queue videos of country backdrops as cast narrate early excursion routes, accompanied by rather twee music. Flash-forward and comical facial expressions depict Beryl and Charlie's wedding day while an amusing sequence of images show their April honeymoon caravanning in Filey.

Beryl's cycling history is broken into significant dates to remember with Designer, Naomi Dawson, and Director, Rebecca Gatward, cleverly using basic props to represent character and location changes. A professor's cap transforms Beryl's mother into a local teacher; an evening shrug worn over Beryl's cycle gear is used for award-ceremonies; a headscarf and glasses turn one of the two male actors (Dominic Gately) into Charlie's mum before he wears white shiny evening gloves to become the Queen. The conception of Beryl's daughter is amusingly acted out on bikes with umbrellas and comical facials while a bike pump on stage blows up Beryl's pregnancy bump. The cast create sound effects in a microphone at the side of the stage and a plane sound effect is ingeniously made by a car tyre spinning with a finger on the spokes. There's stand out slow-motion choreography during crash scenes with dramatic movements and no lighting.

Aside from Beryl's amusing modesty, stubbornness and understated way of talking (She has her bike handle bars raised towards the end of her nine months!), Peake adds humour by opting to break the fourth wall with audience interaction and including in-jokes such as a dig at Cameron's arts cuts to explain why the company couldn’t afford a side car for Charlie's bike. The flow of Beryl’s story is occasionally broken up by shocking or amusing contextual information like attitudes to cyclists in the 19th century and the area the rhubarb triangle covers. Terminology like “time trials” are explained and most shockingly we're reminded women’s cycling was not even part of the Olympics until 1984.

For a sports story celebrating the incredible achievements of a relatively unknown big cycling name, Beryl has surprising charm and universal appeal. Her quiet sensitivity makes her a likeable lead and stubborn insistence to beat the doctors, an amazing inspirational role model for men and women alike. Women’s best all-rounder 25 years running, Beryl's story is one of highs and lows with light relief as Beryl's daughter (Chelsea Halfpenny) later follows in her footsteps, genuine tensions as she rides against Mike McNamara to beat the women and men’s record and a moving finale as Beryl's astonishing accomplishments are made all the more apparent by a stage covered in cups and medals. Morley's “Yorkshire House Frau” worked hard her whole life to achieve her goals and her uplifting story may be enough to inspire others to follow her final advice: “It’s about guts and determination – you can do anything you set your mind to.”

by Leo Owen