Unmasking Burton by Josh Moore & Thomas Baxter

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Some stories are told through applause. Others are told through silence — the kind that settles in a home where a mother never came back, where a father reached for a bottle instead of a hand.

Richard Burton. The voice. The legend. A man whose talent blazed so bright it blinded the world to the wounds beneath. But two young storytellers at Bath Spa University are asking a different question — not who was Richard Burton, but what shaped him?

Unmasking Burton is a stage play written by Josh Moore and directed by Thomas Baxter — a bold, unflinching work that reaches behind the curtain of one of theatre and cinema's most iconic figures, to examine the adverse childhood experiences that followed him offstage all his life. The loss of his mother when he was just two years old. A father whose relationship with alcohol cast a long shadow. A boyhood that carried grief before it had the words for it.

This is a story about how early pain doesn't disappear — it performs. It takes on different costumes. And sometimes, it takes a lifetime to unmask.

Today, Eye to Eye Counselling sits down with Josh and Thomas to explore how their work on stage connects to something far bigger — the urgent, real-world need for bereavement support for young people. Because behind this production lies a purpose: raising vital funds for Eye to Eye's Bereavement Box Campaign, bringing comfort and care to children navigating loss, just as a young Richard Burton once did — alone, and without the tools to cope.

This is Unmasking Burton. And this is why it matters.