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La Bete

La Bete at Music Box Theater

Why see La Bete?

American playwright David Hirson's rollicking 1991 play, La Bête, is a comic tour de force about Elomire (David Hyde Pierce), a high-minded classical dramatist who loves only the theatre, and Valere (Mark Rylance), a low-brow street clown who loves only himself.

When the fickle princess (Joanna Lumley) decides she’s grown weary of Elomire's royal theatre troupe, he and Valere are left fighting for survival as art squares off with ego in a literary showdown for the ages.

La Bête will star Tony and Olivier Award winner Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Boeing-Boeing), Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce (Dr Niles Crane in Frasier) and BAFTA Award winner Joanna Lumley (Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous) and will be directed by the multi award-winning Matthew Warchus (The Norman Conquests, God of Carnage, Boeing-Boeing).

Dates
Previews from 23rd September 2010
Opening night 14th October 2010
Closes: 9th January 2011

Audience: La Bête is suitable for audiences aged 12 and upwards

Run time : One hour and 45 minutes with no intermission 

Show Schedule

  Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Matinee - - 2:00 - - 2:00 3:00
Evening - 7:00 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:00 -

Christmas & New Year Schedule
December 24th – No performance
December 25th – 8pm performance only  (no matinee)
December 26th – 3pm & additional 7:30 pm performance
December 31st – No performance
January 2nd - 3pm & additional 7:30 pm performance

Reviews

Customer reviews

15 reviews, average rating: (3.7 Stars)

SOLEDAD

MARK RYLANCE!!!

La Bête is an absolute rarity: an american comedy a la Moliere, playing in 1654 in France, and in verse. The play is a true festival of geniousity and talent and is profounder as it seems. Mixing extrem vulgarity with extrem rafinesse. Rylance brights in all Valere´s registers: an excessive character, egotistical, vulgar, pompous, showy and insensitiv beast: La bete It was worth to be one week in NYC only to see him! ... Read more

Eric

Simply brilliant

Yes, you have to like theatre to like this show. No, if you are there to see the TV stars do something familiar, or have an all-singing all-dancing special effects spectacular, you won't be happy. So that's fine, go see Cats again. Really: to those reviewers who didn't like this, I say: you didn't get it. Honestly, complaining about a lack of set changes...? Not all Broadway is Wicked you know. Rylance is one of the finest actors of his generation and here is in virtuoso form, and the others do a fine job of providing things for him to bounce off, the verse dialogue is ingenious and brilliantly delivered, and if I'd been in New York three more nights I would have seen it three more times. So: if you love theatre, rather than Broadway, you will love this play. If you want cheese and helicopters, there's always Miss Saigon. ... Read more

Toots

Finally! I got the message!

T totally agree with M. Piazza. The ending hit me right in the chest!Anyone who's engaged in mediocrity should stay home. ... Read more
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