Review: A Powerful Staging Of Jean-Paul Sartre's NO EXIT Takes Center Stage At The Off-Central Players

“I didn’t dream to be a hero...you are what you want to be...”-Cradeau

“We may never have been as alive, as we are right now...” -Estelle

“Is that the best you can do? Torture by separation...?”- Inez

No Exit is an Existentialist French play from 1944 written by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play had its first performance at the Theatre du Vieux-Colombier in May of the same year. Sartre’s inception of the play centered around this idea of the look and the ontological struggle of being caused to see oneself as an object from the view of another consciousness or “other person.” Conceptualizing and rationalizing the idea of how we perceive ourselves, versus the mirror image of how society or those in close proximity perceive us to be. 

In a blistering 85 minutes with no intermission, the audience is plunged into the throws of the afterlife, and trapped within the minds of three individuals riding out eternity in a mysterious room, where they are forced to ask the hard questions, face inner demons, and find out the depths of one another. No question/answer is off-limits, and the fate should you choose to accept it, is an absurdist mind **** that will leave you questioning not only your own morality, but that of the society in which you find yourself a part of.

The plot here is an existentialist road-map of twisted and sometimes bizarre proportions, all culminating in a mirror image of what makes us all human, and how we damn ourselves to the eternity we are subject to.

Three damned souls, known only as Cradeau, Inez, and Estelle, are brought to the same room essentially in “Hell” and locked away by a mysterious BellBoy. All of them half expecting torture devices meant for Hell, find a plain room filled with furnishings from the French Empire and a statue of Napoleon on the mantlepiece. Upon first meeting neither of the trio divulge information as to how they wound up in “Hell,” and after some back and forth Inez proclaims they should all own up to their moral shortcomings. In doing so, they soon realize they were all put in the same room to make each other miserable for the rest of eternity. Essentially “live” out the rest of eternity as one another’s torturers. Cradeau suggest they all revel in their silence and leave one another alone, but Inez uses this time to seduce Estelle, who keeps checking for a mirror to adjust her appearance. By seducing Estelle, Inez acts as her mirror. Inez is attracted to Estelle, Estelle is attracted to Cradeau, and Cradeau is not attracted to either woman.

The three finally admit their wrongdoing... Cradeau cheated on his wife, and then was executed by firing squad, Inez is a sadist who manipulated and seduced her cousin’s wife, and convinced her to leave her husband, where-in the cousin was killed by a tram, and Florence/Inez were asphyxiated by a room filled with gas, and Estelle had an affair and then killed the resulting child.

The rest of the events our trio is subjected to will be revealed when you see the show...

I will leave you with Cradeau’s line,

“Eh bien, continuons...”

From top to bottom this cast is explosive and dynamite in every facet of the word.

As Cradeau, Cornelio Aguilera is perfectly cast. Subdued when he needs to be, stoic in presentation, and divisive all the same. His Cradeau is calculated down to the finest of details and, Cornelio proves to be one of the finest actors to grace an area stage. There are times where you come across a special performer  that you immediately know is perfect for a certain role, and there is no Cradeau in recent memory that has been portrayed with such grounded depth, and even at times, made me question my own morality.

As Inez, Jenna Jane is a knockout. From the very moment she steps into the idea of eternity she is a magnetic force that will pin you to the wall and leave nothing in her wake. For all who are privy to the work of one Kate Siegel as Camille L’Espanaye in Mike Flanagan’s recent Fall of the House of Usher, Jenna’s work as Inez is nothing short of a masterclass. Like the eye trap in A Clockwork Orange, I couldn’t find a moment where I could look away, her performance is that compelling. She is so didactic in her movement, and concise in every moment to moment. You feel the venom oozing from her soul, and she takes/leaves no prisoners.

As Estelle, Alexa Perez is the pardon the Mike Flanagan reference again, the Tamerlane Usher of our journey. She is so powerful in her needs, and wants, her plight is clearly defined, and as the audience we ride the journey with her. She tackles the competition and comes out on top  when she needs to.

As the BellBoy, Anthony Gervais does so much with so little stage time. He is magnetic, and devilish in his delivery. Everyone is a prisoner in his game, and he holds all the cards. His expressions, the moments of silence all come through with resounding echos. The depth driven out from the insides of his moral playground allows the character to charter a course that I wish the audience could venture more. Always a stand-out Mr. Gervais does it again, providing exceptional presence that can be felt in any room he passes through.

Alan Mohney Jr has outdone himself here with exceptional casting that blows the roof off the very intimate space provided for staging. Alan’s direction is clear and concise in every moment of the piece. We see a beginning and an end, with layers being peeled back throughout the show. From dialogue delivery, to the execution of non-verbals and the surrounding sequence of events, our players are merely pawns in this game of chess in which Alan is the master, and we have all been handed check-mate.

With technical elements designed by Alan Mohney Jr., and Michael Horn, our trip to “Hell” or that of the proverbial is an artistic wonder. The minimalist set design works for the intimate space, and the telling of the story. The use of effective lighting design helped evoke intimate moments, as well as spectacle, once the door was open. The only thing I wish had happened with the “circles of hell” on the background would be the use of some white paint to make the images almost 3D in effect, especially in areas of low light. Our friends at the Off-Central Players always do exceptional work given the confines of the space for presentation, and the team of No Exit lets the story speak for itself, and I find the forced minimalist design fascinating.

Absurdist/Existential Theatre is not for everyone, and in itself attracts a certain audience. If you find yourself in the mood for something slightly different than the norm, or like me just did a deep dive into the world of Noir pieces, and Existentialist storylines, even perhaps partaked in the recent work of one Mike Flanagan, then No Exit is the ticket you need.

Filled to the brim with exceptional Characters portrayed by some of the finest acting I have seen, it will leave you questioning your own moral high-grounds. At the end of it all, Jean-Paul Sartre’s themes were and are very relevant even to society today,

“L’enfer, c’est les autres...”

Information about tickets to Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit can be found by visiting www.theoffcentral.com. No Exit is onstage through November 19th, and trust me when I say, “IT’S ONE HELL OF A RIDE...”

Photo Credit: Stage Photography Of Tampa, Spot

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