Hotly anticipated as this year’s must-see production, La Bête is an uproarious, Olivier Award-winning comedy by American playwright David Hirson, starring the extraordinary Tony Award-winning actor Mark Rylance (Boeing-Boeing, Jerusalem), the wonderful Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce (Curtains, Niles in the smash-hit sitcom “Frasier”) and the magnificent BAFTA Award winner Joanna Lumley (Patsy in the BBC’s “Absolutely Fabulous”). This dazzling new staging is directed by the internationally acclaimed, multi-award winner Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, Boeing-Boeing, Art, The Norman Conquests).

The hilarious action begins when an audacious princess (Lumley) hires a common street performer (Rylance) to join her royal theatre troupe. When the loud-mouthed clown meets the classically-trained troupe leader (Pierce), the two square off to defend their pride in a rollicking showdown for the ages.

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

Sonia Friedman Prodcutions and Scott Landis, Roger Berlind, Robert G. Bartner/ Norman Tulchin, Bob Boyett/ Tim Levy, Roy Furman, Max Cooper, Dan Frishwasser, Bud Martin, Philip Morgaman/ Frankie J. Grande, Stephanie P.McClelland/ Hagemann-Rosenthal in association with 1001 Nights, Richard Winkler present “LA BETE”.