Tapestries fading and barely hanging on the walls, scant pieces of furniture decorating the throne room, glimpses of the bare boned stage blending in with the dilapidated scenery; the land ruled by King Berenger is withering. Hence it’s time to get rid of the king.
Ianesco’s 1968 play, with a new translation by Geoffrey Rush, who is also starring as King Berenger, and Neil Armfield, the production’s director, is still a relevant absurdist theatrical experience reflecting a corrupt and decaying society with many parallels to our own crumbling empire. Languishing in a narcissistic haze and neglecting governmental responsibilities, wars lost, the planet heating up, infrastructure breaking, this King Berenger, the worn out, inept steward of the land, refuses to relinquish his hold on the kingdom despite the entreaties of his first Queen.
While the modest action of the play centers upon King Berenger coming to terms with his mortality, the electrifying Geoffrey Rush, dressed in purple striped pajamas and sporting a crown and robe, gives this grotesque figure a sympathetic touch. Capturing the desperation and fear of an ailing man on the brink of death, Rush uses his body to show the last bits of juice still animating the decrepit King. Dexterously maneuvering his heavy scepter, taking pratfalls, and dancing in the style of the best old time musical hall performers, Rush elicits the comic elements from a relatively static drama. Further capitalizing on the absurdist opportunities of the play, the director paints Rushes face with heavy makeup, giving him the effect as appearing part clown, part ghoul.
Making her comeback to Broadway after 37 years, Susan Sarandon, clad in stately garb and crown, plays Queen Margarite, the pragmatic first wife of the King and his self-appointed guide to the next realm. She is the one who announces that the fields and streams drying up, the thunder mute and the population shrinking, it is only for King Berenger, still clutching on to the last remaining minutes of his 400 year life, to let go and die. Aiding Queen Margarite is the Court Doctor and Executioner, William Sadler, who crisply reports on his majesty’s rapid decline with a delicious glee in his eyes and broad grin that pops out from his white face.
Lauren Ambrose as Queen Marie, second wife and favorite of the King, endows the character with beauty pageant looks, a teary, naïve optimism and exuberance for life. Queen Marie, reluctant to accept the fate of her dying beloved, with bleary mascara running down her cheeks, can only shriek at the latest evidence of the King’s demise, a large crack in the palace wall that is beyond repair. Ironically, as she indicates by looking out into the audience, that palace wall also happens to the play’s fourth wall which her gaze ruptures giving the audience a bit of a squirm.
Andrea Martin, as Juliette the servant, and Brian Hutchison, as the Guard, round out the cast. While Martin tends to rely on her hammy shtick recycling bits of Frau Blucher from Young Frankenstein, Hutchison lends the devoted, yet doltish attendant a measured performance.
Rush and Armfield have updated small snippets of the dialogue to include 21st Century references such as computer lines, search engines and cordless phones which as times feel false. Otherwise, they seem to maintain the integrity of the original script.
To see a strong Ianesco production, catch this King before it exits Broadway after its eight week run on June 14th at the Barrymore Theatre.
