Exit The King, a play by Eugene Ionesco at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Starring Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose, William Sadler, Brian Hutchison, and Andrea Martin, directed by Neil Armfield. This was the first time we've seen "Exit the King" and we all found it a powerful meditation on what it means to die, the egoism of the individual, what the achievements of a lifetime amount to, the connections we all have to our loved ones and to the earth. Many plays explore this theme - the great Our Town which is currently having a historic run a the Barrow Street Theater is one of them. But using absurdest elements in a linear style, Ionesco's play hits hard even while eliciting bellyfulls of laughs. Part of this is due to the extraordinary performance of Geoffrey Rush, one of the most dazzling bravura physical demonstrations we've ever seen. Rush is astonishing, and moving as he clings to life, and at the end lets go of it. His performance is matched by two other cast members: beautiful Lauren Ambrose who is also a physical wizard and the herky jerky Guard of Brian Hutchison. They've each found the center of the play. Two other exceptionally skillful players, Andrea Martin and William Sadler play for belly laughs Vaudeville style. They are effective and know their way around a stage, but we felt their approach was inconsistent with the work of Rush and Ambrose. Unfortunately, Susan Sarandon as Queen Marguerite, looking absolutely ravishing in her green gown, is out of her depth. She apparently neither possesses the skill to play her role, nor even the voice. She is miked, and, if possible over miked (the whole cast is miked, but discretely - not so Sarandon), and in her big, key scene at the conclusion of the play, her flat, unmodulated and unsculpted reading of her lines missed countless opportunities with what should have potentially been the most poetic words in the play. How much Martin, Sadler and Sarandon might have benefited from a more unified vision by the director we will never know. 'We also felt cheated, from our upper mezzanine seats, when the King wandered into the audience to perform some of his most effective (but to us invisible) lamentations. But what is great about this production is epically so, most especially the legend in the making performance of Geoffrey Rush making this "King" a must see. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test grade B+