Murder! Lies! Cows!
Eddie Perfect’s play The Beast tours to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane in 2016
Written by and starring Eddie Perfect, and directed by Simon Phillips, The Beast is an organic, free range, jet-black comedy that holds a hand-crafted chef’s blade to the throat of modern Australia.
When three tree-changing couples flee their dark past, they quickly find country life is not all (locally sourced) peaches and (hand churned, bicycle-delivered) cream. After an Angus calf is purchased for a respectful, face-your-food, nose-to-tail dinner party, the reality of life on the land is more confronting than any of them could have imagined.
Eddie Perfect’s play tears apart middle-class trends, social climbers, foodies, wine-snobs, helicopter parents, self-serving do-gooders and self-righteous gardeners.
There will be blood. There will be food. There will be perfectly matched wine. It’s the worst dinner party ever.
On making the announcement, Eddie said: I’ve always relished black comedy, but I was genuinely surprised by the impact The Beast had on Melbourne audiences. It gave me heart that the rest of the country might also enjoy a night of bloody and twisted comedy. The central conceit of The Beast is based on an actual dinner party I attended in the Yarra Valley, an hour outside of Melbourne. A 14-month old, 450kg female Angus calf was purchased for an evening of nose to tail eating. But after the mobile butcher injured his hand and was rushed to emergency, it made me wonder just how far I’d be prepared to go in order to face my food.
“I’m delighted to once again be teaming up with Simon Phillips, the busiest and best director on the planet, who has miraculously found time in his schedule to corral an A1 cast of comic actors (and me). We’re determined to bring Australian audiences something truly hilarious, confronting and unforgettable.”
Eddie Perfect is a diverse, respected and prolific writer/composer/performers, having made his mark in the fields of comedy, music theatre composition, playwriting, screenwriting, classical music, jazz and acting for stage and screen. Perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mick Holland on Ten’s Offspring, as a judge on Australia’s Got Talent and as the new host of Play School, Eddie has won multiple awards for his work both as a performer and a writer.
His stage credits include Baz Lurhmann and Global Creatures’ Strictly Ballroom, Malthouse Theatre Company (Babes In The Wood, Drink Pepsi Bitch, The Big Con), Shane Warne The Musical, Keating! The Musical, Songs From The Middle in collaboration with ANAM, Iain Grandage and the UK's Brodsky Quartet, Opera Victoria’s The Threepenny Opera and Opera Australia’s South Pacific. His solo music comedy shows (Angry Eddie, Drink Pepsi Bitch, Misanthropology) have received Helpmann and Green Room Awards, touring Australia, New Zealand, Edinburgh and London. Eddie is currently co-Artistic Director of Adelaide Cabaret Festival. eddieperfect.com.au
SYDNEY | Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre | 27 July – 14 August
MELBOURNE | Comedy Theatre | 25 August – 4 September
BRISBANE | QPAC| 15 – 18 September
Tickets on sale: Wednesday 18 May, 10am: thebeastplay.com
Photo: Julian Kingma