Review: Eugène Ionesco's EXIT THE KING Holds Even More Relevance With Megan Wilding's 21st Century Australian Vision.

Thursday 1st April 2021, 7:30p, Old Fitz Theatre

Almost 60 years after the premiere of EXIT THE KING, Eugène Ionesco's absurd tale of a self-centered belligerent King who refused to listen to his Queen as his kingdom crumbled retains a significance in the 21st century. Kicking off Red Line Productions and The Old Fitz Theatre's 2021 season, this work remains an important commentary on political and social structures and in Director Megan Wilding's hands it is given the additional layer of the importance of respecting the original landowners and accepting their knowledge and wisdom.

Centering on the silver lined throne room of a fictional kingdom, EXIT THE KING is presented in real time as the final 90 minutes of the once powerful King Berenger's (Jonny Hawkins) 400+ year life. As domestic helper Juliette (Emma O'Sullivan) continues the seemingly losing battle with the cobwebs and dust that are rapidly engulfing the castle, the King's first wife, Queen Marguerite (Shakira Clanton), supported by the polymath Doctor (Rob Johnson), is trying to get the petulant man-child of a monarch to finally take the responsibility he has deferred for centuries and make a decision to abdicate and save the kingdom. Supporting the King's denial that he's losing his powers, from controlling the sun and the skies to his subjects to his own body, is second wife, the seemingly dimwitted, eager to please Queen Marie (Dalara Williams) who has spent her time pandering to the King's indulgences of parties and pleasure when he wasn't trying to prove his power with useless wars.

Veronique Benett's silver throne room has fully foiled furniture and walls, utilizing a material more akin to Survival emergency blankets than kitchen foil or high-end foil leaf which has a poetic symbolism that the final space of the kingdom is being cocooned in a protective layer as the kingdom struggles to survive while also trying to retain the heat as the central heating has failed and the sun refuses to make an appearance, blocked by storms. The creeping decay of the once grand castle is expressed by both the graffiti that covers the floor and intermittently marks the walls and the more significant herbaceous incursion through the crack in the wall. The absurdity of the kingdom is further reinforced with Aleisa Jelbart's costume design which clothes the king in an odd assortment of loungewear topped off with faux fur while the Queens present an interpretation of an old-world silhouette with tulle trains and bustles in bright colors. The Doctor appears as the most "normal" of the ensemble while the servants continue the bizarre aesthetic of mismatched clothes that look like they've raided an op-shop. Alexander Berlage's lighting makes use of the reflective surfaces and adds impact as the audience learns of Queen Marguerite's powers and Ben Pierpoint's sound design and composition heightens the mood as the persistent storm rumbles outside.

Jonny Hawkins talent for physical comedy along with his ability to create unusual characters is fully utilized to ensure that the King is version of a modern-day Arthur Bach, a man that has never mentally grown up, opting to remain a petulant child unfamiliar with anyone challenging his authority. Dalara Williams gives Queen Marie a bright and eager devotion with saccharine sweetness that combines compassion with vapid ignorance. While Rob Johnson's Doctor is a voice of reason, Johnson ensures that he, like the rest of the characters, is also seen as absurd in his caricature of a multi-talented man of science that is regularly derailed from making sense by his own mind. Emma O'Sullivan and Toby Blome add to the sycophantic support for the King's delusions with their collection of interesting character traits that express that while the idiot guard makes notes in the form of pictures on his own skin, maid Juliette has some awareness of the realities that they are facing, even if she'll suppress her concerns in order to keep from being dismissed by the King.

The star of the show however is Shakira Clanton's portrayal of Queen Marguerite, the voice of reason who realizes what it will take to save the kingdom. Clanton has a beautiful gravitas along with an ease that ensures that audience is on Queen Marguerite's side in acknowledging that the old white man in power needs to stop and listen to the woman of colour rather than try to hurl insults and sideline her. While Wilding keeps Marguerite's movement more subdued Clanton ensures that her face expresses the Queen's feelings with amusing clarity.

Whilst initially programmed at a time when Red Line Productions and director Megan Wilding could have safely expected a degree of relevance through parallels to egotistical global leaders, the recent events, particularly in national politics, have made this production of EXIT THE KING even more pertinent. Supporting a strong message for putting women in power, EXIT THE KING echoes the sentiment in society that was demonstrated in recent women's day marches while also being an entertaining evening of theatre leaving the audience hoping that our political leaders will wake up to the situation faster than King Berenger.

https://www.redlineproductions.com.au/exit-the-king

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