Samantha Saville
The Paw Print
The play “No Exit” premiered on Tuesday, March 30 and ran through Saturday, April 3. The play was performed in the Xperimental Theater with a very interactive stage. Parts of the stage were actually mixed in with the audience seating. Another positive treat that made this performance different was the use of live music as background music.
The play was set in a room of Hell starting with one main character and a bell boy. The character placed in Hell, Mr. Cardeau played by Jonathan Andujar, has just arrived and is having trouble getting used to the idea of being dead. He soon realizes that the only torture in Hell is himself and his soon-to-be-roommates.
The next person to show up is Inez played by Katie Fuleki. As a lesbian who irritated others she most nearly could be classified as the antagonist in the play.
The last person to show up is Estelle played by Sophie Simon. She was a housewife who just wanted to be loved.
As the characters advance, the viewer starts to see into their past lives on earth. A camera set up in one corner of the stage projects images onto the only full wall of the stage. As the characters see what is happening on earth with people and things that once belonged to them, they stare into the camera and a voice on a tape recorder plays as their thoughts. This brings a dramatic aspect to the performance which breaks up the other dialogue on the stage and makes it unique.
As the play progresses, the viewer learns more about the characters and the reason they are in Hell. Cardeau, a commendable journalist, is actually a coward who abused the love of his wife. Inez poisons everyone she is around until her lover, who she stole from her cousin, kills her. Finally, there is sweet innocent Estelle, the housewife who married a man for his money, had several affairs, and killed a baby.
Each one tortures the others for all eternity. Estelle tortures Inez because she wants Cardeau. Cardeau tortures Estelle by not paying attention to her and both of them torture Cardeau by not accepting him.
At one point of the play Cardeau actually opens the door but no one tries to escape because they don’t know where to go or how to leave.
The play ends with the characters realizing this is their life forever. They no longer can die. Their “life” now consists of the three of them, the room they are trapped in, and the consequences of the choices they have made.
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