In this wildly distinctive comedy set in 17th-century France, a vulgar and impossibly self-obsessed writer/perfomer attempts to win the favour of a Royal Personage and ignominiously oust his high-minded rival. All is accomplished in a virtuoso cascade of rhyming couplets!
With its unique use of rhyming iambic-pentameter couplets, La Bete explores the clash between high art and lowbrow entertainment through the arrival of the crude performer Valere into a refined acting troupe. The ensuing comedic conflict between Valere and the troupe's leader, Elomire, highlights this tension. In Wrong Mountain, aging poet Henry Dennett achieves unexpected success by betting he can write a play, only to question if his lifelong pursuits have led him astray, reflecting on the nature of artistic fulfillment.