offrey Rush plays 400-year-old King Berenger who is ruling over a once-thriving country that has fallen into complete decay. His kingdom has shrunk from a few million people down to a few thousand and from miles to yards; the few citizens and buildings left are falling into a giant hole. To make matters worse, Berenger's first wife, Queen Marguerite (Susan Sarandon) announces that he only has until the last minute of the play to live. Berenger refuses to die--he is determined to outwit death, to live forever. Of course, he's fooling himself.
You wouldn't think that watching someone die over the course of a couple hours would be entertaining, but this production is funny, irreverent, and totally wacky. The actors break the "fourth wall" often, speaking directly to the audience in a way that usually evokes laughter. At one point, Rush actually wanders up and down the aisles pleading for guidance from audience members. Comic relief is also provided by Andrea Martin as the sole overworked maid left in the castle, and Brian Hutchinson as a guard who clanks around in a suit of armour and consistently announces the most random pieces of information to whoever might be left in the kingdom to hear his updates. Their sense of timing and physical humor provide lots of laughs. 
There are also plenty of moments of intimacy, of quietness, and of poignancy when we are reminded that the theme here is death and mortality. Somehow Rush manages to age right before our eyes--slowly his over-the-top persona shrinks into an infirm old man. The loving exchanges between Berenger and his new wife (Lauren Ambrose) add a sweetness to the production, and Susan Sarandon's bitchy, sarcastic delivery throughout most of the play sets up an effective contrast to the warm, gentle tone she has as she guides Berenger through the last stages of death.This is not a crowd-pleasing play for everyone, but it was certainly a great night of theatre for the CultureBuddies. (By the way--Jeff Goldblum was sitting in front of us!)
