La Bete Sets Broadway Closing Date

The first Broadway revival of David Hirson's comedy La Bete will play its final performance on January 9, 2011. The production, which stars Tony winners Mark Rylance and David Hyde Pierce alongside Joanna Lumley, first played London's West End earlier this year before opening on Broadway on October 14. The show is directed by Tony winner Matthew Warchus. At the time of its closing, La Bete will have played 23 preview performances and 101 regular performances at the Music Box Theatre.

Set in 17th century France, the Moliere-inspired La Bete is a farce written in iambic pentameter that tells of a government-sponsored theater troupe that is shaken up when the group's patron insists that a buffoonish street performer joins the company. The original Broadway production opened on February 10, 1991, and ran for 25 performances.