Exit The King with Geoffrey Rush

I saw Exit The King starring Geoffrey Rush on Tuesday night and thought it was amazing. A very exciting production that had me holding me breath in anticipation and at other times laughing incredibly loud. The play, by Eugene Ionesco, is all about- well death and how we struggle to holod on and then finally come to grips with out. Watching the show is like watching someone die of old age- they are not sick, but they are going to die and there's nothing that can be done- yet they hold on with all they've got. Here is where Rush excelled- act one an incredibly resiliant king, not wishing to face death- even knowing that he only has 2 hours to live. Act 2 King Berenger was completely different. Incredibly frail- slowly coming to grips with what WILL happen. The change in Rush's acting was amazing- the frailty was incredibly believable. Fantastic. The Guard and the House Keeper were also fantastic and added some great humour into the show. Even the two at interval were fun to watch. Set was fantastic- and that you had to walk over the concrete tiles that covered the stage to get to your seat was a great way of immersing the audience into the action. The thrones on either side of the King's throne for his two queens created the symbol of the 'angel and devil' and the shoulders quite well. Billie Brown was also great in the roll of Doctor/Astrologer and Executioner. The ending- and I won't spoil it- was incredibly powerful, and for the last 10 minutes I watched in awe. Of course having front row seats was fantastic- (I went with school) and it was great to have Rush lead the second set of bows in front of us and give us all a wave, I think he could tell from our very enthusiastic clapping that we enjoyed the show immensly. The translation made by Neil Armfield and Geoffrey Rush is perfectly modern, yet seemingly old fashioned, Australian yet other worldly. Perfectly absurd. I loved this show. 4.5 out of 5 stars! Exit The King is playing at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne