Written by Eugene Ionesco
Directed by Neil Armfield
Synopsis: The play is about a megalomaniacal ruler, King Berenger (Rush) whose incompetence has left his country in near ruin. Despite the efforts of Queen Marguerite (Sarandon) and the other members of the court to convince the King he has only 90 minutes left to live, he refuses to relinquish any control.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"Let me add that in the title role of Eugène Ionesco’s “Exit the King,” which opened Thursday night at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in Neil Armfield’s brutally funny revival, Mr. Rush is not only more entertaining than the usual never-say-die bogeyman but also more frightening. That’s not because you’re worried that the 400-year-old Berenger might come after you in your dreams, Freddy Krueger style; it’s because you know that the seedy, power-addled egomaniac onstage — who’s working overtime to dodge his own mortality — is, quite simply, you."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK POST:
"His (Rush) Berenger is at once theatrically stylized and all too human. It's a delicate balance, and one the rest of Neil Armfield's production doesn't nail quite as precisely. Partly it's due to Armfield's timidity -- he just doesn't go far enough with the second act's metaphysical chaos -- and partly to some of the actors' difficulty with suggesting ambiguity."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
"This revival comes to Broadway via a production done in Melbourne, Australia, and directed by Neil Armfield, who demonstrates skill and originality in orchestrating this human circus.
But there are issues. "
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THEATERMANIA:
"Plays about dying really don't get any funnier than Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King, now getting a rare Broadway revival at the Barrymore Theatre. But getting laughs isn't all that this piece is about; as the work unspools with wild and sometimes joyful abandon in Neil Armfield's beautifully calibrated production, it proves both cuttingly topical and surprisingly touching."
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
"It's that state of pervasive uncertainty, in a world thrown into chaos as an empire crumbles, that rescues Eugene Ionesco's 1962 absurdist tragedy from the dusty vaults and infuses it with unexpected currency. But the play's relevance is secondary to the virtuoso work of its lead actor, who unleashes a dazzling arsenal of mime, clowning and physical techniques to swerve in an instant between comedy and pathos, keeping the audience riveted to him through every hairpin turn."
Read the whole review HERE.
NY1:
"Ionesco pondered the insanity of life, while Wilder captured the sweetness and pain. But their plays share an intimate understanding of our mortality and all that's entailed in letting go. Some people will no doubt find "Exit The King" frustrating and too long. I found this fine production both funny and moving, much like life itself."
Read the whole review HERE.
BACKSTAGE:
"But now, 41 years later, in director Neil Armfield's magical production, Ionesco's classic entertains mightily even as it gently slips in the shiv of existential despair."
Read the whole review HERE.
TIME OUT NY:
"Ionesco’s play—which Rush and Armfield have adapted and tartly updated—is a metatheatrical metaphor. Some may find it overextended; written today, it would probably be half an hour shorter. Still, it is a pleasure to see bona fide ideas on Broadway, and to admire the way the playwright uses theater itself as a trope for his themes."
Read the whole review HERE.
AMNY:
"Though the script itself isn’t too strong, the cast’s energy level and comic timing carries the production until it reaches a serious peak. The production design might be described as graveyard grotesque, with the actors looking like zombies in white makeup."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEWSDAY:
"If an evening-long death scene isn't your idea of exhilarating theater, you haven't been to "Exit the King." This inspired revival of Eugene Ionesco's seldom-seen 1962 absurdist tragicomedy has been conceived as the unlikely love child of a fractured fairy tale and "King Lear." "
Read the whole review HERE.
