I won tickets to La Bete (“The Clown”) through a contest on their Twitter account and last Wednesday, my friend and I went to see it at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street. Written by David Hirson, La Bete stars David Hyde Pierce, Mark Rylance, and Joanna Lumley, and it’s been getting a fantastic word of mouth since it started previews on September 23rd.   La Bete tells the story of the head of the royal theatre troupe, Elomire, in 17th century France who needs to convince his queen that a ridiculous street clown, Valere, with whom she has fallen in love with (in the original version, it was a prince) should not join the group.  David Hyde Pierce plays Elomire, and Mark Rylance gives the greatest performance of the last five years on Broadway as Valere.   The script is written completely in iambic pentameter, which is difficult in itself, but Mark Rylance’s first monologue (and the first time the audience is meeting him) is a thirty minute maze of words, none of them making any sense or connecting in any way.  It confuses not only his co-stars onstage but also the audience - in a good way though.  I have no idea how Rylance gives the performance he does, but it is a performance not to be missed.   La Bete was an hour and forty minutes, no intermission.  It was hysterical and never felt long.  It was, for the most part, fast paced and you just wonder to yourself the entire time, “How is Mark Rylance able to pull this off?!” while laughing hysterically. Seriously, his performance is not to be missed.   For more information, visit their website.   (photo via)

I won tickets to La Bete (“The Clown”) through a contest on their Twitter account and last Wednesday, my friend and I went to see it at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street. Written by David Hirson, La Bete stars David Hyde Pierce, Mark Rylance, and Joanna Lumley, and it’s been getting a fantastic word of mouth since it started previews on September 23rd.  

La Bete tells the story of the head of the royal theatre troupe, Elomire, in 17th century France who needs to convince his queen that a ridiculous street clown, Valere, with whom she has fallen in love with (in the original version, it was a prince) should not join the group.  David Hyde Pierce plays Elomire, and Mark Rylance gives the greatest performance of the last five years on Broadway as Valere.  

The script is written completely in iambic pentameter, which is difficult in itself, but Mark Rylance’s first monologue (and the first time the audience is meeting him) is a thirty minute maze of words, none of them making any sense or connecting in any way.  It confuses not only his co-stars onstage but also the audience - in a good way though.  I have no idea how Rylance gives the performance he does, but it is a performance not to be missed.  

La Bete was an hour and forty minutes, no intermission.  It was hysterical and never felt long.  It was, for the most part, fast paced and you just wonder to yourself the entire time, “How is Mark Rylance able to pull this off?!” while laughing hysterically. Seriously, his performance is not to be missed.  

For more information, visit their website.  

(photo via)

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  1. thatgirlallison posted this
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1 year ago