Third Wall Theatre to present Exit The King
All good things must come to an end.
Third Wall Theatre’s 10th season has certainly been one of those good things thus far, with well-received and critically acclaimed productions of Blackbird and Antigone. It will bid farewell to this banner year with a production of Eugene Ionesco’s Exit The King. This 1962 absurdist comedy is, appropriately enough, about mortality: a King forced to confront the erosion of his kingdom and imminent end of his life, surrounded by the last vestiges of his royal court, tumbles through a dark farce to its (and his) inevitable conclusion. Ionesco’s script (of which we received a taste at the Company’s first reading) tackles the human condition in both a social and individual context through the lens of humour, taking aim at the one truly common denominator of all humanity.
The Doctor (Richard Gelinas) examines King Berenger (Andy Massingham).
The cast of this production is drawn once again from Third Wall’s first resident acting company, with Andy Massingham (The Shadow Cutter) as King Berenger, Mary Ellis (Director, Blackbird) as Queen Marguerite, Richard Gelinas (Antigone) as the Doctor, Katie Bunting (Hamlet 2011) as Queen Marie, Simon Bradshaw (Antigone) as the Guard, and Kat Smiley as the Nurse. Ionesco’s surreal world will be brought vividly to life by Sarah Waghorn’s set and costume design, lighting design by Rebecca Miller, and makeup design by Annie Lefebvre.
Of his reasons for presenting this piece as the final production of the season, Director James Richardson says, “I chose it because it is a hilarious play that deals with incredibly difficult subject matter, and it’s something that as humans, we all share: the fear of death, we all share this inability to deal with death and really deal with it in a practical way. Ionesco captures that and captures it in an hilarious way and it’s one of his least-known plays. I only found out about it because of its recent revival on Broadway with Geoffrey Rush. That’s what tweaked me to it. I’m a huge Ionesco fan, and I didn’t really know about it.”
With a wry smile, he adds, “And I needed a comedy for the season.”
Exit The King opens on Wednesday, June 1st in the Studio at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre and runs until June 10th, with performances at 7:30 pm Tuesday through Friday, 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm Saturdays, and 3:00 pm Sundays. Tickets are available from Third Wall at 613 236 1425 or the IGTC box office.
Tags: Andy Massingham, Annie Lefebvre, James Richardson, Kat Smiley, Katie Bunting, Mary Ellis, Rebecca Miller, Richard Gelinas, Sarah Waghorn, Simon Bradshaw, Third Wall, Third Wall Theatre
June 12th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Hello this is actually for Andrew but since I am not subscribed to Twitter or facebook or anything else like that Im using the comment section.
HI Andrew
I will quote from your comment which I just discovered in all that reaction to Dennis Armstrongs comments
“…..We’re all aware that SunMedia and its mouthpieces exist solely to stimulate our adrenal glands. Objective achieved. I would be able to take Mr. Armstrong’s seven semi-sentences more seriously if, like his legitimate media analogues Alvina Ruprecht and Patrick Langston, he had made any effort over the last couple *of* years to experience any theatre. If he had, he would be aware that, while not every theatre production in Ottawa is exactly world-class, more and more work of artistic merit AND public accessibility is being produced. Ottawa’s theatre scene is in a very adolescent stage; it is sometimes awkward, but growing rapidly and in the right direction. I think there’s been a different local, homegrown theatre company on CBC Radio 1 every day this week.
….”
I did want to say thanks to you for that nice remark about Patrick and myself.
I just want to add however, that I did not get involved in the discussion because I personally do not feel I should critisize a colleague in public. its more a question of professional ethics than anything else.
Obviously everyone can do what he or she wants ..but even though some people did write me directly asking me what I thought..I just cant bring myself to talk about that in public..
thats all. and then I guess there is also the feeling that I dont want to kick someone who is already down.There is no more need,
NOW, this kind of ethical restraint might make a good subject of discussion on our new Rant and Rave section of the Capital Critics’ Circle site.
All the best..and see you on the 20th.
Alvina