'David Hyde Pierce's face alone is worth the ticket' The Times.

'Mark Rylance is genius' The Observer.

'Riveting comedy' The Guardian.

Hotly anticipated as this year's must-see production, La Bete is a dazzling, critically acclaimed comedy by American playwright David Hirson.

Starring the extraordinary 2010 Olivier Award-winning actor Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Boeing-Boeing), 'the most exciting stage actor of his generation' (Times), the wonderful Tony and Emmy Award-winning David Hyde Pierce (best known as Niles in the smash-hit sitcom Frasier), and one of the country's most loved and popular actresses, the magnificent Joanna Lumley, this new staging is directed by the internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, Boeing-Boeing, Art, The Norman Conquests).
       
When Princess Conti (Joanna Lumley) invites street clown Valere (Mark Rylance) to inject some bawdy fun and mischief into her staid acting troupe, she anticipates an exciting creative combination. But the troupe's leader, Elomire (David Hyde Pierce), is an elitist and fervent lover of high-brow theatre who clashes with Valere - a gaudy comic and a fervent lover of .... well, himself.  So begins a gloriously witty and wildly hilarious battle of art and egos.

Written in 1991, La Bete was a huge critical success in London in 1992 and won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy.