Exit the King - RNT

[MrsCondomine]

Oct 4, 2018 22:39:52 GMT artea said:

This is French absurdist theatre done very seriously with a marvellous luxury cast, director/adaptor and designer, and no sign of Rufus Norris. The play however runs counter to the current prevailing socio-political mood and aims in theatre. I think it has been unfairly dismissed. It could have been up for awards: best designer best director best actors (Varma and Ifans - heaven only knows how he keeps that voice going throughout). Bravo Patrick Marber. 5 stars from me.

I absolutely agree 100% with your (very good) post, but especially this bit.

People dismiss it as panto, maybe because they genuinely don't like the style, but maybe because they are not ready to engage with it, at this stage, at this time. It was beautiful beneath a very clownish exterior, masquerading as silliness when actually it was deeply upsetting.

Watching Rhys Ifans portray this decaying man, trying to cling on, fighting, resigning, raging, then being given permission to let go, and only then finding they can die and everything will be okay without them... it struck me very deeply. The quietness at the end of the play, that big warm void, was weirdly comforting.

[artea]

Thanks theatremonkey.com for sorting this out.

To fightingfrenchman, thanks. At the end of your comment you're talking catharsis. Tragedy as Aristotle wants it, and it works. Other aspects of Aristotle, at least as interpreted by the French classical tragedians Corneille and Racine, are also very apparent in the play. I'm referring to the three unities of time, action and place. The play doesn't just take place within 24 hours, it unfolds in real time as Queen Marguerite keeps telling us (though her time-keeping may be a bit off esp since the play lost 10 minutes over its run). The plot (such as it is) could hardly be more concentrated, and it all takes place in a single setting which here self-destructs at the end to reveal the void. So you're left, at least to a degree, with a serious, formal classical tragedy, complete with beginning, middle and end, with added absurdity and burlesque.

[kathryn]

Finally seeing this today!

[lynette]

Oct 6, 2018 11:39:12 GMT artea said:

Thanks theatremonkey.com for sorting this out.

To fightingfrenchman, thanks. At the end of your comment you're talking catharsis. Tragedy as Aristotle wants it, and it works. Other aspects of Aristotle, at least as interpreted by the French classical tragedians Corneille and Racine, are also very apparent in the play. I'm referring to the three unities of time, action and place. The play doesn't just take place within 24 hours, it unfolds in real time as Queen Marguerite keeps telling us (though her time-keeping may be a bit off esp since the play lost 10 minutes over its run). The plot (such as it is) could hardly be more concentrated, and it all takes place in a single setting which here self-destructs at the end to reveal the void. So you're left, at least to a degree, with a serious, formal classical tragedy, complete with beginning, middle and end, with added absurdity and burlesque.

I loved the timing thing. Added another dimension I thought. 😳

[mallardo]

I saw the final performance - so glad I did. Marber's production was stunning and the cast superb, top to bottom. As fine as Ifans was the honours go to Indira Varma, I think - her command of the last ten minutes was extraordinary, The play itself is wonderfully conceived and beautifully written, Ionesco's masterpiece - maybe just a masterpiece, period.