Repertory: Exit the King

Eugene lonesco once admitted that he was a playwright of despair—otherwise, he said, "why do you think I have to be so funny?" The basic problem with Exit the King is that it is not funny enough to leaven the despair, and what comic spirit there is has been muffled in this Manhattan production by the APA Repertory Company. A 90-minute mood piece on the palpable fear of approaching death, the play has been given a sleepy rather than springy staging by Director Ellis Rabb. Instead of displaying regal authority and a poignant...