James Karas
David Hirson’s 1991 play La Bête is a brilliant tour de force
combining intelligence, wit, brilliant dialogue and stirring arguments, all
done in rhyming iambic pentameters. Soulpepper Theatre does justice to the play
with some bravura performances that would test the mettle of the most experienced
players.
La Bête is set in
France in 1654, in other words in the age of Moliere. It is a play about
culture in general and about the theatre in particular. Valère (Gregory Prest),
the beast of the title represents low-brow, street theatre. Elomire (Sarah
Wilson) represents high-brow theatre and both she and Valère depend on Princess
Conti (Rachel Jones) for their livelihood. The stage is set for the two sides
to put forth their positions.
La Bête Ensemble. Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann.
Valère is common, vulgar, crude, arrogant and fawning, a one-man street
troupe who needs a few more offensive words to do him justice. He is the epitome
of everything that people of taste and culture would abhor. Prest’s half-hour
monologue is astounding for his ability to memorize that many line alone. But
he does more than that. His performance is modulated as he shows us all his disgusting characteristics which at times are
very funny and never become boring. It is an unforgettable performance.
In the meantime, Elomire (the name is an anagram for Moliere) listens
and reacts with facial expressions. Sarah Wilson, dressed in a beautiful gown,
is tall, beautiful, statuesque and the epitome of the cultured woman and the
representative of the “theatuh.”
Rachel Jones’s Princess Conti must decide which path her court theatre
will take. She saw Valère perform in a town square and invited him to her court
to work with Elomire. She puts Valère to the test in a solo performance and
with Elomire’s troupe. Conti, the essence of aristocracy, is generous,
reasonable, and affable and exudes beauty, class and culture. She asks for only
one thing: that she be obeyed at all times. Aristocrats then and now are
wonderful people provided you do what they want.
Oliver Dennis, Sarah Wilson, and Gregory Prest. Photo: Cylla von
Tiedemann.
Oliver Dennis plays the limping, humpback Bejart and does a good job, as
usual. Fiona Sauder plays the servant Dorine who cannot say more than a
syllable and I am not sure what the character is all about. There are four
other characters who are part of the troupe but they are not very well
developed. James Smith is De Brie, Ghazal Azarbad plays Catherine De Brie,
Raquel Duffy plays Madeleine Bejart and Paolo Santalucia plays Rene du Parc.
They participated in Valère’s performance but aside from that they did not do very
much.
There is a Marquise-Therese Du Parc listed as being played by Michaela
Washburn but for the performance that I saw the role was distributed amongst
the ensemble to no good effect. I found out afterwards that Ms Washburn was
indisposed.
The principal actors gave extraordinary performances in a play that
combines meaty intellectual arguments, high and low humour (Prest scratching
parts of his body and emitting gas).
Tanja Jacobs’ direction is outstanding. The play takes place in the
court theatre and Ken MacKenzie’s set is appropriate and well done.
La Bête as a play
about the theatre and culture has obvious appeal to theatre lovers. But it is
also a reflection of today’s cultural and even political milieu where people
like Donald Trump and Doug Ford are considered as acceptable leaders. Classical
theatre, music and opera have difficulty in surviving, let alone thriving and standards
appear to be falling. La
Bête raises the flag and shows that all of that is not true. Go see it.
____________
La Bête by David Hirson continues until June 22, 2018
at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Tank House Lane, Toronto,
Ontario M5A 3C4. www.soulpepper.ca.
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