Hotly anticipated as this year's must-see production, La Bête is a dazzling, critically-acclaimed comedy by American playwright David Hirson, playing at the Comedy Theatre from 28 June.

Starring the extraordinary and multi-award-winning actor Mark Rylance, “the most exciting stage actor of his generation” (Times), the wonderful Tony and Emmy-Award-winning David Hyde Pierce (best known as Niles in the smash-hit sitcom Frasier), and one of the country's most loved and popular actresses, the magnificent Joanna Lumley, this new staging is directed by the internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, Boeing-Boeing, Art, The Norman Conquests), hailed as the “finest director of comedy we’ve got” (Sunday Telegraph), and plays in the West End until 28 August before transferring directly to Broadway.

La Bête is a comic tour de force about Elomire (Hyde Pierce), a high-minded classical dramatist who loves only the theatre, and Valere (Rylance), a low-brow street clown who loves only himself. When the fickle princess (Lumley) decides she’s grown weary of Elomire's royal theatre troupe, he and Valere are left fighting for survival as art squares off with ego in a literary showdown for the ages.

Written in 1991 by David Hirson, La Bête was a huge critical success in London in 1992 and won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy. With a stellar cast of exceptional talent and one of the most celebrated directors of our time, this new staging promises to be the unmissable theatrical event of 2010.

Playing for a limited season only, catch this superb, sparkling masterpiece of comedy while you can.