La Bete plays final performance

The first major revival of David Hirson's Olivier Award-winning comedy La Bete plays its final performance on 9 Jan 2011 having played 23 previews and 101 regular performances.

La Bete opened at Broadway's Music Box Theatre on 14 Oct 2010, following previews from 23 Sep 2010, for a limited engagement that was scheduled to close on 13 Feb 2011.

The show opened to mixed reviews: Dumfounding (newyorktheatreguide.com); Deflation sets in (NY Times); Unmissable jewel (Bloomberg); Perfectly balances slapstick farce with sophisticated banter (Back Stage).

The comedy stars Tony and Olivier Award winner Mark Rylance, Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce and BAFTA Award winner (and star of "Absolutely Fabulous") Joanna Lumley. and also features Stephen Ouimette, Lisa Joyce, Greta Lee, Robert Lonsdale, Michael Milligan, Liza Sadovy, Sally Wingert, Deanne Lorette and Steve Routman.

This new production, helmed by acclaimed comedy director Matthew Warchus, played a limited summer engagement at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End from 26 June - 4 Sep 2010.

American playwright David Hirson's 1991 play, La Bete, is a comedy about Elomire (Pierce), a high-minded classical dramatist who loves only the theater, and Valere (Rylance), a low-brow street clown who loves only himself. When the fickle princess (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 Bete will be produced in London and New York by Scott Landis & Sonia Friedman Productions, Roger Berlind, Robert G. Bartner/Norman Tulchin, Bob Boyett/Tim Levy, Roy Furman, and Bud Martin and designed by Mark Thompson, with lighting by Hugh Vanstone, music by Claire van Kampen, and sound by Simon Baker.

The original Broadway production of La Bete premiered in 1991 and only ran for a total of 40 performances, the production was however nominated for five Tony awards. Directed by Richard Jones, it starred Dylan Baker, Johann Carlo and Michael Cumpsty. Following its Broadway run, a new production was mounted in London where it became a commercial and critical success, winning the 1992 Olivier Award for Best Comedy.