At the end, screams and laughter: 'Exit the King' wrestles with death

By Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times | July 2, 2018

The king is dying. Long live the king.

Few actors, perhaps only the best, could sustain the roller coaster of rage, melancholy and megalomania Eugène Ionesco demands in his 1962 play “Exit the King.” In American Players Theatre’s production, running in the indoor Touchstone Theatre through Sept. 27, that job falls to longtime core company member Jim Ridge.

Ridge’s performance, a marvelous one, makes the most persuasive argument for including this play in the season. “Exit the King” is absurd and chaotic, and not as funny as it thinks it is. The king himself is some kind of part, physically demanding and emotionally unpredictable.

Read the full review here!