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.
The performance schedule for
EXIT THE KING is Tuesday at 7:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday at 8:00pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm. Please note that on Tuesdays March 10 and March 24 the curtain is at 8:00pm, and on Sunday, June 7, the curtain is at 2:00pm..
Photos by: Jason Bell