'Exit the King'

It’s King Berenger’s last day on Earth, he just refuses to accept it. A Noise Within presents Exit the King, Eugène Ionesco’s wildly funny and deeply human meditation on mortality, translated by Donald Watson and directed by Michael Michetti. The production runs May 9 through May 31 at the company’s home in Pasadena. Low-priced previews begin May 3.

King Berenger has ruled with absolute power, so why should the rules of death apply to him? As the king stubbornly denies the inevitable, his crumbling kingdom is held together by an eccentric court: his formidable first wife, his devoted second wife, and a band of increasingly bewildered attendants. Absurd, witty and unexpectedly touching, this modern classic becomes a poignant and surprisingly joyful reminder that even kings must face their final curtain.

“I love this play’s cheeky, quirky dark humor, and that the thing it appears to be at the beginning is not what it reveals itself to be by the end,” says Michetti. “It starts as a hysterical, rollicking tale of human folly, then gradually transforms into something deeply beautiful and moving.”

Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) was a Romanian-French playwright and one of the leading figures of the Theatre of the Absurd. Rising to prominence in the 1950s with “anti-plays” such as The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, he used surreal humor, illogical dialogue and bizarre situations to explore the absurdity of human existence and the fragility of communication. His celebrated play Rhinoceros famously satirized conformity and totalitarianism, while much of his work wrestles with themes of loneliness, mortality and the search for meaning. Often described as a “pessoptimist” for his blend of comic irony and existential dread, Ionesco created works that remain both unsettling and exhilarating. Exit the King is widely considered one of his most accessible and universal plays — at once an allegory, a dark comedy and a surprisingly life-affirming work.

Performances of Exit the King take place May 9 through May 31 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. (no matinee on Saturday, May 9). Four preview performances take place on Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m., and on Wednesday, May 6; Thursday, May 7; and Friday, May 8 each at 7:30 p.m.

A one-hour INsiders Discussion Group will take place prior to the matinee on Sunday, May 10, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Post-performance conversations with the artists will take place every Friday (except the preview) and on Sunday, May 17. Student matinees are scheduled on select weekdays at 10:30 a.m.; interested educators should email education@anoisewithin.org.