Customer Reviews

La Bete

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I would urge everyone to buy a copy of this script, I would especially recommend it to students of theater history (for a good laugh) and to working or studying actors and directors - its classic/modern qualities make it a wonderful bridge to performing and directing classic works, and actors will find PLENTY of first-rate scene and monologue material.

And to be sure, while its humor and satirical nature is its immediate draw, the deeper philosophical question which it (and, of course, "The Wrong Mountain") leaves us with is one which can prove debate-sparking, ideal-shifting, and life-changing. Most Highly Recommended - worth far more than five stars.

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This is excellently-written rhymed verse in an hilarious period play about a boorish, egotistical actor who takes over a performance company. The unbelievable 15-page monolog by Valere, "the beast" referred to by the title, is worth the script cost alone. Because of the crafty writing, this script is alive and energetic on paper, even without the actors to give it form. And if seen in performance, the quick, witty dialog can be very informed to the audience member who has the script in hand. I love this play!!

This is an exciting new piece of theater writing. It is brilliantly witty and creative, evocative and lenguistically rich! It is also a delight to read aloud!

David Hirson, La Bete (Dramatists Play Service, 1992)

Iambic pentameter in the late eighties on the stage? Yes! And well-done iambic pentameter, at that. La Bete is something special. I'm not sure if the stage had ever seen anything like it before. When you open with a twenty-page monologue, you're most likely breaking new ground.

It's France, 1654. Prince Conti, disappointed at the lack of initiative shown by the players he keeps on retainer, has found a street performer named Valere that he wants to introduce to the company, and has arranged an introductory dinner. The action begins just after the sinner, when Valere, Elomire (the head of the company), and Bejart (Elomire's right hand man) have decamped to another room. Valere seems to hold Elomire in great regard; the feeling is not in the least mutual. After some well-spiced wordplay, Valere launches into his infamous, and quite humorous, monologue, during which Elomire comes up with an idea to make Valere look like the moron he is in front of the prince-- with thoroughly unexpected results.

It's probable that those who have never read an entire play in verse will shy away from this. Don't-- as with all formal poetry worth the name, Hirson writes in such a way that, while you're aware of the rhythm and rhyme, the usual cadences one finds in speech are to the fore most of the time. (When they're not, it's carefully calculated for some effect or other-- in most cases, ludicrous humor.) There is great amusement to be found here, as well as some rather scathing subtext; it's fun stuff that will likely make you feel a bit uncomfortable in places, as well it should. Read it; it's worth your time. *** ½

I saw the play in Sarasota and later got the CD. The play is written in couplets; that's what makes it a real treat. You need to have seen the play to get full benefit of the CD. On-stage and on CD, La Bete is great.

Hirson is a lenguistic god!