An existential crisis in hell

Imago Theatre opens their 30th season by reviving their 1998 production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist masterpiece, No Exit.  This particular production has toured widely and is distinguished by its tilting stage—the brainchild of director and Imago artistic co-director Jerry Mouawad.

The play is set in what looks like a hotel room with three miniature sofas. In reality, it’s a personalized suite in hell for Joseph Garcin (Tim True), Estelle Rigault (Maureen Porter), and Inès Serrano (JoAnn Johnson). The focus of the play is on the relationships between these three characters. Inès is a lesbian who fixates on Estelle, whom yearns for the affection of a man. Joseph is not interested in Estelle, but exploits her interest to aggravate Inès.

No Exit is driven by the tension between Joseph, Inès and Estelle. The relative lack of action, paired with mildly repetitive dialog, makes this play difficult to stage and explains why it is performed so infrequently. Mouawad’s stage combats this by physically representing the interrelation and interdependency of the players. Each individual movement tilts the stage, which sits on a central pivot. This adds a sense of urgency to the play and heightens the minimal motions of the characters, underscoring their symbolism.

Unfortunately, the production plays the stage’s physical movement for cheap laughs. The first scene, which shows Joseph being led into the room by a sinister valet (Bryce Flint-Somerville), is unnecessarily bloated. In Sartre’s play, The Valet is a minor character. Here, he becomes a recurring form of comic relief. This is unnecessary, as Sartre’s dialog provides all the jokes one could ask for. His clownish presence is a stark contrast to the darker, more cerebral tone of No Exit’s humor, and an ineffective one. No Exit is difficult enough to sit through because of its intensity and relentless focus on a finite cycle of interactions and Imago’s production would be better served by allowing the focus to remain on its three main characters.

Aforementioned problems aside, the play is pitch perfect. True’s Joseph strikes a balance between pathetic and sympathetic, and Porter’s Estelle walks the line between ingénue and callous seductress. The scenes where Joseph and Estelle watch their companions on earth are the play’s most relatable and affecting, and they add a much-needed touch of humanity and tenderness to the play, which (aside from the appearance of The Valet) veers close to bleak monotony.

Inès’ observations of her immediate departure are nowhere near as moving, but Johnson’s virtuoso performance is the play’s driving force. As the play’s cruelest character, and the only one with a true understanding of the power of manipulation, Inès is relentless and haunting.

Overall, Imago Theatre’s production is faithful to Sartre’s content and tone, and is a pleasure to watch.