Exit the King is not an easy play to hold together. It is, after all, just over an hour of watching an entire universe fall apart before your eyes. At first, a crack appears in the sky. Within twenty minutes, snow is falling on the north pole of the sun. The earth is quaking more than usual. The universities tumble into crevices in the ground. Then, just to compound the chaos, the actors have to break the fourth wall. The King is dying, we’re told, and will be dead ‘by the end of the show’.

Ionesco’s absurdist play necessitates a strong stylistic vision, but Sophie Evingar’s production at Newnham Old Labs didn’t seem to have a cohesive idea of what it wanted to be. Ionesco’s script isn’t well-suited to a naturalistic delivery, and some of the play’s ironic moments seemed to be lost in translation. The aspects of Brechtian ‘Epic Theatre’ in the play – like the Guard’s frequent ‘news bulletins’ of what is happening on stage – were left to dangle a little awkwardly, and weren’t exploited to their full potential as subversive theatrical moments. 

However, as soon as Justin Blanchard staggered on stage as the ailing King Belenger, everything came together. His comic timing was perfect and his energy was infectious. Dressed in a little dressing gown with a sceptre and an oversized crown, Blanchard became a spluttering old man with a host of surreal mannerisms. His psychological portrayal of a rapidly-dying man in denial was oddly compelling, so that when he marvels over the beauty of carrots and begs for a pot of stew as a ‘last wish’, it’s hard to know whether to laugh out loud or pity him.

Ruby Zajac’s Queen Marguerite was also a powerful presence on stage, manipulating and bullying the other characters into submission.  Aydan Greatrick’s officious Doctor was brilliantly characterised, and he interacted well with the saline-spouting Queen Marie (Connie Harper). Gabriella Jeakins was refreshingly down-to-earth as Juliette the maid, and her dialogue with King Belenger was one of the highlights of the production.

Exit the King contains flashes of brilliance. Evingar made great use of atmospheric lighting and bursts of non-diegetic music, and all the actors kept up a high energy performance. Unfortunately, these never quite amounted to the bold, cohesive style that the play demanded, and the final scenes – though moving – glossed over the sinister aspects of it entirely. This is a lively and entertaining production, but for all its admirable earnestness, I just wish it was more absurd.