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First produced in 1963 starring Alec
Guinness and successfully revived to great
acclaim on Broadway in 2009, this absurdist
exploration of ego and mortality is set in
the crumbling throne-room of the palace in
an unnamed country where King Berenger the
First has only the duration of the play to
live. Once, it seemed he ruled over an
immense empire and commanded great armies,
now his kingdom has shrunk to the confines
of his garden wall. Refusing to accept his
end, he is attended by his present and
former Queens who must help him face the
final inevitable truth of life: death.
"The imagination itself is original,
bizarre, powerful. The most moving of all
Ionesco's plays and, if only from the width
of its sympathies. It is incomparably his
greatest work."-The New York Times
-- From the Samuel French
website. |
