Last month I went to watch Exit the King in the National London Theatre. This production was in the dramatic style of Absurdism. Absurdism emphasises the erratic behaviour of human existence by meaningless dialogue and it is extremely unrealistic.

Exit the King was about a powerful king who had been living for over 400 years and shall decide when he dies. ‘Why was I born if not forever’. The King was petrified by the concept of death and wanted to be remembered by everyone when he finally would die. Suddenly, the King became ill and had only 68 minutes of living remaining. The delusional and selfish king went through 5 stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression then acceptance. In the end he died and this scene was immensely intense and emotional for the audience.

Absurdism can be very shocking as the actors talk openly about subjects like depression, such as how the King was giving up on life: ‘They cannot help me, nor can I help myself’. This made the audience feel as if there is no hope left for this King and we felt sympathy towards him. Moreover, the last few scenes of the production were particularly dramatic because the King was dying and he crossed over into another world. The queen encouraged him throughout the production, ‘It’s time to cross, so cross over’. Furthermore, the lighting was a light blue colour which looked as if the other world was peaceful and beautiful. However this production was Intriguing because there was a countdown until his death, so the audience were curious as to what the king would spend his last few moments on earth doing. 

I interviewed a student at Surbiton High School and she said her favourite part of the play was ‘the ending because of how amazing and detailed the set was. But the idea behind the play was very strange and weird’. In absurdism you should expect the unexpected as it is an unusual and peculiar style of drama. At the end of the production she stated that she felt ‘overwhelmed by the whole storyline and especially the death’. Also she thought the ‘characters were so engaged with the story they were telling’. She thought that absurdism was surreal and quite abnormal. 

Absurdism was portrayed as frightening for the audience as the actors talked in detail about what the purpose of life is and why we are living. This also showed the audience that life can be meaningless, if you don’t spend it doing what you like. The piece showed the audience that there were no expectations – expect the unexpected…

If you have yet to experience absurdism, perhaps now is the time to watch a production such as ‘Exit the King’.