King Geoffrey holds court

There are two elderly women standing in front of me at a cafe just after a performance of Exit The King. "Did you enjoy the play?" the barista asks them enthusiastically.
"Oh, no, dear, we hated the play," says one.
"Yes. Terrible play," says the other. "But Geoffrey Rush was magnificent."

I don't particularly like Theatre of the Absurd either, actually - I've seen one too many slaughtered university productions of The Rhinoceros to really be able to get into him properly. And let's face it - this show wouldn't have sold out to packed houses if Geoffrey Rush hadn't been its star vehicle. Those lovely old ladies undoubtedly wouldn't have ventured out to the Malthouse on a windy Saturday afternoon to watch an old man whither away in a chair. (They probably get enough of that at the nursing home. Ouch.) No, I don't like Absurdist theatre - but I loved this play. So they must have gotten something right, hey?

Geoffrey Rush is indeed magnificent in this, one if Eugene Ionesco's last plays about a king in his final days of life. Surrounded by his two queens, Marie (Rebecca Massey) and Margeurite (Gillian Jones); the Guard (David Woods), the Doctor (Bille Brown) and the servant Juliette (Julie Forsythe), King Berenger slaloms his way through his final hours, reflecting on the glory days of his kingdom and howling angrily over lost time. His entourage try desperately to lighten the mood as Berenger's health continues to fail and his already fading memory continues to fade. That's essentially all that happens - aside from the usual absurdist reflections on life, death, and the meaning of it all - but, as I desperately wanted to point out to my decaf latte-sipping elderly friends, it's Absurdism. Not much is meant to happen.

Still, I can understand their confusion. Ionesco's writing is at best convoluded and at worst completely impossible to understand, especially if you're not listening properly, or are too distracted by the oddness of the language to really hear what's being said. Absurdism is "a movement that developed in post-War Europe... and is characterised by a visceral use of language (read: it doesn't really make sense), a sense of alienation (read: what? hang on, what's going on there?) and seemingly disparate images thrown against each other in often arrhythmic and rapid succession. (read: wait wait wait...why are they repeating that? What is that giant bunny supposed to mean? WHY ARE THEY HITTING THAT WATERMELON?!)" Thanks to Maryanne Lynch, Dramaturge-in-Residence at the Malthouse for that handy tidbit of information in the show's program notes. (The parenthesis are mine...in case you weren't aware.)

Thankfully for this production, Neil Armfield manages to sift through the convolusion to bring us a rather remarkable production. His direction is clear and efficient, and he manages to bring out the best in Rush without making him the only thing worth seeing in the play. Aesthetically this production is stunning - an opulent mural-covered cloth backdrop hangs from the ceiling and makes up the 'walls' of the castle, which also features an exquisite marble-tiled floor and a red-carpeted walkway to the exit, which is situated in the middle of the seating banks. Dale Ferguson's design is simply breathtaking, full of colour and extravagence but still conveying a sense of decay and disorder as the kingdom, along with its king, hurtle rapidly towards extinction. The costumes, too, are like something out of a fairy-tale: Berenger and his queens trip over completely ridiculous four-foot trains, the women sport crazy beehive hairstyles and the Guard is decked out in the requisite clunky silver armour.

Aside from the main spectacle of Geoffrey Rush, the performers are all strong and extremely adept at handling the absurdity the text necessitates. Rebecca Massey is suitably hysterical as Queen Marie and David Woods' Guard is nothing short of hilarious. Woods stands silently at attention for most of the production, occasionally trumpeting the state of the King's wellbeing for all to hear: "The King is dying! Long Live the King!" His comic timing is impeccable, and he delivers a fine performance as Berenger's faithful guard. Bille Brown is impressive as the Doctor and Julie Forsyth gives Juliette a brilliantly nuanced performance. Forsyth is one of Australia's great comic talents and in each play I see her in I fall a little bit more in love with her. She's just so funny, but in a way that makes you feel she's not even aware of the hilarity she's capable of. I didn't love the restraint Gillian Jones brought to Queen Margeurite; I understand that she was supposed to contrast Marie's complete hysteria, but I felt her performance was a little too un-regal for me. However, her scene with Rush toward the very end of the play is eerily compelling. Jones delivers her lines from side stage, so that all we see is King Berenger, centrestage, dying slowly as he has been for the past 2 hours.

Probably one of the most interesting things about seeing this play was watching the audience. It wasn't your typical Malthouse matinee crowd. You could tell there were a lot of people there were seeing their first play in a long time, and it was obvious why they were there. The audience took a collective breath of delight when Rush entered the stage for the first time. Here was this incredible actor, from, you know, HOLLYWOOD, coming here, to little old Melbourne, to create this role for us on stage. Isn't that NICE of him? What a shame the play was so...well... absurd?

Good on the Malthouse and Company B, I say, for providing an avenue by which a completely new audience is able to fall in love with theatre and what it can do. Hopefully, not all of the punters hated the play as much as my elderly companions. In fact, I'm going to be optimistic and say that, because of Geoffrey Rush, more than a couple of people are going to figure out that theatre, when it's done right, is pretty darn amazing. Sometimes, it's even magnificent.

Avi Lipski

For more of Avi Lipski's thoughts on theatre, visit her blog at "the rest is just commentary".

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Exit The King

Company: Company B Belvoir & Malthouse Theatre
Venue: Belvoir St Upstairs, Surry Hills, Sydney
Dates: 9 June - 29 July 2007

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