Academy® Award-winners Geoffrey Rush (Shine) as King Berenger and Susan Sarandon (Dead Men Walking) as Queen Marguerite will star in Eugene Ionesco's EXIT THE KING on Broadway. This production marks Rush's Broadway debut. Translated by Neil Armfield and Geoffrey Rush and directed by Neil Armfield, EXIT THE KING will begin performances Saturday, March 7, 2009 at the Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street) and open on Thursday, March 26, 2009. This limited engagement will run for 14 weeks only, through Sunday, June 14, 2009.
EXIT THE KING also stars Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Lauren Ambrose (Awake and Sing!, "Six Feet Under") as Queen Marie, Tony® Award- winner Andrea Martin (My Favorite Year, Young Frankenstein) as Juliette, William Sadler ("Roswell," Julius Caesar) as The Doctor and Brian Hutchison (From Up Here) as The Guard.
EXIT THE KING is a hilarious and poignant comedy 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.
The design team for EXIT THE KING includes Dale Ferguson (Set & Costume), Damien Cooper (Lighting), Russell Goldsmith (Sound). John Rodgers is the Composer.
Geoffrey Rush is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association.
Geoffrey Rush led a critically-acclaimed production of EXIT THE KING, directed by Neil Armfield and produced by Company B and Malthouse Theatre at the CUB Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, Australia on March 28, 2007 and at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney, Australia on June 13, 2007.
Geoffrey Rush (King Berenger and Co-Translator) started his career in Australian theatre and has appeared in over 70 theatrical productions and more than 20 feature films. Rush was catapulted to fame with his starring role in director Scott Hicks' feature Shine, for which he received worldwide accolades: an Academy Award® for Best Actor, a Golden Globe®, SAG, BAFTA, Film Critics' Circle of Australia Award, Broadcast Film Critics, AFI and New York and Los Angeles Film Critics' Awards. In addition, Rush garnered an Emmy®, a Golden Globe® and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as the title character in HBO Films' "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers." He also earned an Academy Award® nomination for his performance in Quills and an Academy Award® nomination and Golden Globe® nomination for his role in Shakespeare in Love. He starred in all three Pirates of the Caribbean films. Most recently, he lent his voice to $9.99, an animated feature based on the existential short stories of Israeli author-filmmaker Etgar Keret. Other film credits include Munich, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Candy, Intolerable Cruelty, Finding Nemo, Ned Kelly, Lantana, Frida, The Tailor of Panama, Les Miserables, Oscar and Lucinda and Starstruck. His work on stage was honored with the Sydney Critics Circle Award for Most Outstanding Performance, the Variety Club Award for Best Actor and the 1990 Victorian Green Room Award for his performance in Neil Armfield's The Diary of a Madman. He also received Best Actor nominations from the Sydney Critics' Circle Awards for his starring roles in The Government Inspector, Uncle Vanya and Oleanna. In 1994 he received the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for his work in theatre. Geoffrey Rush is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association.
