It's the dead of winter, we could all use a laugh or two to get us through to spring, and it might be lurking within The Five Points Theatre.
"My first encounter with (La Bete), I was wandering in the streets of London, England, late at night," director Dylan Trowbridge told Barrie 360, "and I heard this buzz and all this laughter, and it was people spilling out of the theatre. I didn't know the play, but I thought, whatever these people have just seen, I want to do that. I want to make people feel like that. They were sort of brimming with joy and excitement."
The play takes place in 17th-century France and follows the story of a talented but boorish street clown who is taken in by a prestigious theatre company. Despite the performer's lack of refinement and education, he manages to shake up the world of the theatre with his unconventional talent and wit.
"It's sort of a collision of high and low art written in rhyming couplets," said Trowbidge. "I think it is the most challenging text written in the 20th century. So, while it is very, very funny, it is also an enormous textual challenge to our ten actors. It plays almost like Shakespeare meets stand-up comedy."
If the rehearsals are any indication, theatre-goers are in for a good time. Trowbridge says they have been in stitches, making each other laugh, and pushing the envelope with the comedy.
"I don't think anyone will have seen anything quite like this play."
La Bete is playing through February 11, at The Five Points Theatre in Barrie. Tickets are available online through Talk Is Free Theatre.
And listen to our interview with director, Dylan Trowbridge, on the Barrie 360 What Barrie's Talking About podcast, below...
banner image: TIFT.ca
