Thursday, May 28, 2009

Exit The King (The SOB Review)

Exit The King (The SOB Review) - Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York, New York
**1/2 (out of ****)

All hail Geoffrey Rush! Long live the king!

As the 400+ year old King Berenger in the often spellbinding new translation of Eugene Ionesco's Exit The King he co-wrote with Neil Armfield, the Academy Award winning actor delivers the year's most brilliant and breathtaking tour de force performance that is simply unmissable.

Quite a feat for a beleaguered king who doesn't quite know when to make his long overdue exit, either by abdicating the thrown or gasping his last breath. Even as the play -- as well as king -- fizzles out during the long-winded second act, Rush remains a vibrant force to behold.

Rush is ably supported by a solid cast, including the ever redoubtable Andrea Martin as the king's servant Juliette and a nuanced Lauren Ambrose as the king's first wife Queen Marie. If Susan Sarandon disappoints as Queen Marguerite, it's because there's no hint of irony in her performance, which is what theatre of the absurd requires.

While Rush and Armfield (who also directed) may have found eerie parallels with the world as we knew it as recently as one year ago (when they first mounted their revival of Ionesco's work Down Under), their intended parable was entirely lost on the lovely lady behind me. Immediately after the measurably more riveting first act, she asked me what Exit The King was supposed to symbolize. I gingerly explained that it was intended in part as a metaphor for the hapless leadership the English-speaking world had just a few short months ago. "Oh," she replied, "I never would have thought that."

Despite its shortcomings, I wholeheartedly recommend seeing Exit The King. Geoffrey Rush's awe-inspiring achievement is worthy of a king.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

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posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, May 28, 2009 2 comments

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Rush To Enter The Exit

Rush To Enter The Exit

Just when it seemed as though nothing more absurd could occur on the Great White Way than a dozen shows closing all at once comes word that an Australian revival of Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King will essentially transfer to Broadway this March.

Directed once again by Neil Armfield, the production that graced Sydney's Belvoir St. Theatre will feature Academy Award-winning Aussie actor Geoffrey Rush reprising the title role. But this incarnation will also mark the return to the Broadway boards for Susan Sarandon after 37 years.

UPDATED (1.15.09, 7:35 p.m. EST): Just announced today are the exciting additions of Lauren Ambrose and Andrea Martin. This seals the deal for me. Absurd or not, I'm going!

Exit The King was first (and last) mounted in a Main Stem theatre all the way back in 1968 when it played a mere 47 performances. Its cast was comprised of Patricia Conolly, Richard Easton, Eva Le Gallienne, Nicholas Martin, Pamela Payton-Wright and Richard Woods.

The revival of Exit The King is scheduled to begin previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on March 7. The limited engagement will open on March 26 and run through June 14.

If absurdist works are your cup of tea, this will be your year. In addition to Enter The King, Roundabout Theatre Company will stage Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot beginning in April at Broadway's Studio 54. Far from absurd, an amazing quartet of actors -- Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, John Goodman and David Strathairn -- are set to star.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

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posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, January 13, 2009 8 comments

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