Trap Door Theatre to Stage LA BETE, 3/19-4/25

Trap Door Theatre presents LA BÊTE, written by David Hirson and directed by Kay Martinovich, SDC.

La Bête is a rollicking play, written in rhyming couplets, and inspired by the life of the French comic master, Molière. In the play, Elomire (an anagram for Molière) is the leader of an acting troupe, which according to their patron the Princess has gone stale and listless. She decrees that they must now hire a new company member, the bombastic, vulgar street performer Valere. A standoff between Elomire and Valere ensues and their lively debate is both funny and dramatic, hilarious and tragic.

The show stars: Marzena Bukowska, Casey Chapman, Kevin Cox, Jesse Dornan, Skye Fort, Bill Gordon, Kelly Jean, Meghan Lewis, Mike Mazzocca and Ann Sonneville.

The production team includes: Stage Manager Allison Goetzman / Set Designer Carolyn Voss / Lighting Designer Richard Norwood / Costume Designer Rachel Sypniewski / Sound Designer Steve Labedz / Makeup Designer Zsófia Ötvös / Dramaturg Milan Pribisic / and Graphic Designer Michal Janicki.

David Hirson (Playwright) is an American playwright born into a show business family. He attended Yale and Oxford and his two well known-plays (La Bête and Wrong Mountain) deal with the issues surrounding the "creative process," culture, and art vs. entertainment. La Bête, his first play, was produced on Broadway in 1991 where it infamously closed after only 25 shows despite the John Gassner Playwriting Award of the Outer Critics Circle for its author. The next year, it was produced at London's West End garnering both critical and commercial success and winning the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. The play got its second chance on Broadway in 2010 with great success, which was repeated at London's West End. Hirson's plays have received nominations for multiple Tony and Drama Desk Awards.

Kay Martinovich (Director) works as a freelance director based in Chicago. Most recently she directed Down Range by Jeffrey Skinner at Genesis Productions and A Skull in Connemara By Martin McDonagh at Northern Illinois University, where she is an Assistant Professor in Acting. Last year she directed Winsor McCay by Laura Marks (TEN Festival) at The Gift Theater and Anything of Value by Brett Neveu (RIPPED Festival) at American Blues. As Associate Artistic Director of Irish Repertory of Chicago (1999-2006), she directed the American premieres of Marina Carr's By the Bog of Cats... and Brian Friel's The Yalta Game, among others. She is a proud member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC).

On Saturday, March 21st following the performance of La Bête, there will be a talk back and reception with director Kay Martinovich and the cast focusing on the play's themes of art vs. commerce and the question of artistic integrity.

Performance Schedule:
Opens: Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 8:00PM
Closes: Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 8:00PM
Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8pm
Talk Back: Saturday, March 21 following the performance

Admission is $20 on Thursdays & Fridays; $25 on Saturdays; Special 2-for-1 Admission on Fridays. All performances play the Trap Door Theatre, 1655 West Cortland Ave. Chicago, IL 60622. For information and reservations, call773-384-0494 or purchase online at www.trapdoortheatre.com.

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