Review: Despite Solid Acting & A Classic Sartre Script, NO EXIT's No Fun

NO EXIT/written by Jean Paul Sartre/directed by Kent Minault/Oh My Ribs Theatre/thru November 1, 2015

Jean Paul Sartre's 1944 NO EXIT receives a sturdy mounting by the InterAct Theatre Company. Sartre's conceit has three newly arrivals to Hell assigned to the same room. Save for the red walls of this windowless, mirrorless chamber, all preconceptions of what Hell looks like go right out the window (if any existed). Thumbs up for Kurtis Bedford's purposedly gaudy set design.

For a described "classic dark comedy," the very few laughs were certainly caused more by the talents of one cast member rather than by the words of Sartre. Kent Minault directs his gifted cast spouting out Sartre's lines ever so trippingly and sensibly on their respective tongues. Any faster readings would have been unintelligible. Bravo to the cast for their commitment, intensity and believability in this possibly realistic situation. Who really knows what it's like to be in Hell?

This theatrical experience begins at the ticket counter when you have to sign your life away on a clever jibberish contract before entering the theatre. The Valet, played very menacingly by Alan Naggar, ushers you to your seat whilst reprimanding any noisy behaviors. When the stage lights go on and the house lights goes off, the Valet, now a most charming Naggar, leads the three "absentees" to their final place of rest.

First sinner in -- Garcin, a conscientious objector and married womanizer who took 12 bullets in his chest. Matt Fowler hits all the right notes as the questioning, obsessive, repenting Garcin.

Second guest -- Inez, a ruthless lesbian in a bisexual triangle gassed by her guilt-filled suicidal lover. The lover turned their gas stove on and hopped into bed with Inez to die. Carolyn Hennesy fiercely portrays Inez as a 'damned bitch' (Sartre's words) using her great maniacal laugh to maximum effect -- the only laughs in the ninety minutes.

The third and final roommate -- Estelle, a vain, self-centered mother who threw her months-old baby over a balcony. Austin Musick's perfectly self-absorbed as Estelle while not completely successfully fighting off Inez' advances and quite transparently attempting to seduce Garcin.

These three soon come to realize that instead of Hell's torturer and fire, the close proximity of the three of them will be the torturous downfall for them all. The three principals handle all the alternating bickering, the seductions, the always shifting one-up-man-ship quite skillfully. Despite the wonderful and involving interchanges between these marvelous actors, the sense of plodding, senses-dulling doom prevails.

Some NO EXIT roles have been double cast.

www.interactla.org

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