Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit "are you ready to be Sartred"

On Friday the 13th of july Beaumaris theatre in conjunction with J.U.I.C.E. Performance will hold the opening night of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre, originally published in French as Huis clos (In Camera). as a one act play it was written by Sartre so as the french citizens could still enjoy a night out whilst under the curfew of the Nazi's during world war two. thpugh it is short it is filled with Sartre's Philosophys of dealing with the other. No Exit was first performed at the Vieux-Colombier in May 1944, just before the liberation of Paris in World War II. The play features only four characters The Valet (male/female any age) Garcin (Male Mid 20's to early 50's) Inez (Female late 20's to late 50's) Estelle (Female early to late 20's) No Exit is the source of the famous Sartrean maxim, "Hell is other people". the play will be performed in a verry minimal setting with some projected scenes as well. the play contains alot of dialouge so potential auditioners may want to take a look at the script it is available at www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/hell/sart.html aswell as with some insightfull comentary as well from a new york professor. the play will run for a short season with a showing at the theatre on the 13th and then will be entered into the Mornington and Maroondah one act play festivals of the 14th and 15th.there will be oppertuneties to show it at Victoria University as well. at the moent there will be a chance for a forum after the first showwing at the theatre and some playwrites and philosophers will be in attendance to disscuss the plays existensial philosophy that is really Sartre in a Nutshell. a date for auditions is yet to be confirmed though it looks to be around the 7th of april so watch this space or email me mickydatortoise@gmail.com for more info. at this stae i am happy to hear from anybody with an intrest we need audiences peformers crew and backstage people as well as intrested people to participate in the forum afterwards. it is not required that you are familiar with No Exit Or Existensial/Sartrean philosophy but an intrest will help in understanding the play and its themes. and for participating in discusions afterwards About No Exit Plot The play begins with a Valet leading a man named Garcin into a room that the audience soon realizes is in hell (many people believe that hell is portrayed as a gigantic hotel because of the "rooms and passages" mentioned in the play). The room has no windows, no mirrors, and only one door. Eventually Garcin is joined by a woman (Inès), and then another (Estelle). After their entry, the Valet leaves and the door is shut and locked. All expect to be tortured, but no torturer arrives. Instead, they realize they are there to torture each other, which they do effectively, by probing each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories. At first, the three see events concerning them that are happening on earth, though they can only observe and listen, but eventually (as their connection to Earth dwindles and the living move on) they are left with only their own thoughts and the company of the other two. Near the end of the play, Garcin demands he be let out; at his words the door flies open, but he and the others refuse to leave. Characters Garcin – Garcin is the first character to whom the audience is introduced. He is a Brazilian whose sins are cowardice (he deserted the army at the start of World War II) and callousness (he blatantly cheated on his wife to the degree that he even brings his affairs home and gets her to make them breakfast, showing no sympathy). At the start of the play, he hates Inès because she understands his weakness, and lusts after Estelle because he feels that if she treats him as a man he will become manly. However, by the end of the play he understands that because Inès understands the meaning of cowardice and wickedness, only absolution at her hands can redeem him (if indeed redemption is possible for him). He is constantly waiting for his physical torture to come, but this itself is one of the tortures. He is condemned to wish for pain, which he feels will redeem his cowardly actions. In American adaptation of the play, the charcater's name is changed to "Vincent Cradeau." Inès – Inès is the second character to enter the room. A lesbian, her sin is turning a wife against her husband, twisting her perception of her spouse. Indeed, Inès seems to be the only character who understands the power of opinion, throughout the play manipulating Estelle's and Garcin's opinions of themselves and of each other. She is the only character who is honest about the evil deeds she, Garcin, and Estelle have done and, without her, life in Hell would not be torture. Estelle – Estelle is a "society woman", a blonde who married her husband for his money and deceived him with a younger man. Throughout the play she makes advances towards Garcin, seeking to define herself as a woman (perhaps her only role) through a man. Her sins are deceit and her role in the death of the baby she conceived with her young lover, which then drove her lover to suicide. In the end, she loses the struggle for Garcin to Inès. Valet – The Valet enters the room with all three characters, but his only real dialogue comes with Garcin. It is never made clear in the play whether the Valet has chosen his job, was born into it, or if this is his punishment. We do learn that his Uncle is the head valet. Several interpretations can be made as to the purpose of Valet's character. Analysis The theme is commonly thought to reside in one line near the end of the play: pas besoin de gril: l'enfer, c'est les autres – You don't need red-hot pokers: Hell is—other people! but, rather is an ironic statement coming from Garcin, someone who isn't the most adept at offering a clear understanding of things, and thus meant to be ironic. Rather the message is that hell lies within, in the arbitrary values ascribed to things that are on a crash course ending inevitably in suffering. "Hell is other people" has since entered popular culture to the point where it is a line known to those who have never heard of No Exit. The last line of the play is also a topic for discussion: Garcin, after refusing to leave the room, says Eh bien, continuons..., most often translated literally "Well, well, let's get on with it...", but others have suggested that this leaves the dark humour of the French untranslated, and perhaps a better cultural equivalent is a darkly ironic "All right, let's get it over with..." (ironic because, since Hell is forever, it will never be "over with.")