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The Beast

4 August 2016 | 2:30 pm | Hannah Story

"They end up finding out more about themselves and each other than any of them ever expected — and it's not pretty."

Eddie Perfect's original production of The Beast at Melbourne Theatre Company in 2013 received rave reviews. His debut play boasted everything audiences have already come to know and love about Perfect — a willingness to push at the boundaries of what is appropriate in public conversation, done with wry humour and the occasional blast of bombast.

The Beast has this year been remounted as a national touring production, directed by Simon Phillips, and now featuring Perfect in the role of Baird, with stellar performances from the all new cast, especially Toby Truslove as Rob and Alison Bell as Marge. They're faces we recognise most easily from starring television roles, but each have serious theatre chops, creating some of the most engaging and repellant characters we've seen on Australian stages in some time. 

It's a play that concerns middle class Australia — three couples escape to a generic wine region after the men suffer (or do they enact?) a traumatic experience. The three couples aren't even quite sure why they're friends, but they're having a dinner party, deciding to purchase an ethically grazed cow, which they will slaughter ethically, and then eat head to toe. Except, of course, things don't go to plan, and they end up finding out more about themselves and each other than any of them ever expected — and it's not pretty. 

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It's a play that makes us cringe and baulk, but it also shows us some ugly truths about middle class Australia, how we relate to one another, and exactly what ethics we privilege and which we don't. It can be cruel and shocking. But it's also ripe with riotous laughter and physical comedy, drawn together by the slick design of Dale Ferguson, Trent Suidgeest and Alan John.