ActorsNET Stages EXIT THE KING at the The Heritage Center Theatre

The 400-year-old King is dying as his kingdom crumbles around him!

Absurdities abound in Eugene Ionesco's comic drama, Exit the King, during its three-weekend run May 31 through June 16. Considered the father of "the theatre of the absurd," Ionesco conjured up the tale of King Berenger the First - a monarch so powerful he was once able to rule over the forces of nature and will all his subjects to obey his every command. But, after 400 years, those powers have begun to fail.

Co-Directors George Hartpence and Carol Thompson have assembled a superb cast, headed by Barry Abramowitz in the powerhouse role of King Berenger, the monarch who stubbornly refuses to die. In a rare return to the stage is ActorsNET Co-Founder and Artistic Director Cheryl Doyle, who portrays the king's first wife, Queen Marguerite. She vies with the king's second and much younger wife, Queen Marie, played by Jacqueline Galli.

In the play as the King rails against death, the old queen and the court physician try to get him to accept the inevitable, while the young queen sympathetically tries to shield him from acknowledging his fate. But time is relentless and will not be denied. His subjects and kingdom fade away. The members of his court disappear.

"Such is life and impending death," explains Co-Director Hartpence. "It takes place in a fictional kingdom on the last day of the universe but is not a bleak and gloomy stage rendering. Quite the contrary! In Ionesco's fertile mind and capable hands, it bounces madly between Monty Python-like humor and Shakespearean loftiness. The King's role has been called 'a royal banquet of emotions' and Barry Abramowitz rises to the challenge with panache."

Rounding out the cast are (alphabetically) George Agalias as The Doctor, Ken Ammerman as The Guard and Laurie Hardy as his sole surviving servant, Juliette.

"While the king and his two queens dominate the action, our supporting cast adds to the mayhem and madness," Hartpence noted. "Exit the King is a theatrical treat, as evidenced by numerous revivals on Broadway, in Los Angeles and regional theatres across the country. Stepping into the audience for this show is the closest you may ever come to actually entering into The Twilight Zone."

Exit the King performs weekends May 31 - June 16 at The Heritage Center Theatre, 635 North Delmorr Avenue (Route 32, near the Calhoun Street Bridge) in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (62+), $15 for WHYY members and students (high school/college), and $10 for children age 12 and younger.

To reserve, phone ActorsNET at 215-295-3694 or email actorsnet@aol.com. The company's website is at www.actorsnetbucks.org and it is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theactorsnet.

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