La Bete

The patron of a troupe of seventeenth-century French actors foists on them a conceited, silly playwright and performer--to the outrage of their own writer, an intellectual and artist. Hirson's rhyming verse is sometimes strained or veers toward doggerel but can be clever, especially in the almost-contrapuntal use of many voices in unison or in rapid succession. Such sections are well read and well recorded. Some speeches go on too long, a problem for listeners, who have no actions or expressions to observe. The audible reactions of background characters--usually laughter--are sometimes uncomfortably overdone. But the principal actors are sharp, clear, and effective, making for a lively performance of a sometimes-amusing, sometimes-thoughtful, and only rarely tedious comic drama. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine