Jean-Paul Sartre is best known as the founding father of existentialism, but during the 1940s and '50s he turned his hand to playwriting, and his 1944 Huis Clos (No Exit, here translated and adapted from the French by Paul Bowles) gained international success. Sartre cleverly constructed the piece as a taut, self-contained one-act about three mismatched, profoundly incompatible people who find themselves roommates in hell. Inez (Annabel Turrado) is a predatory lesbian; Credeau (director Matthew Hannon) is a cowardly, womanizing journalist who was shot for desertion; and Estelle (Nichole A. Joubert) is an empty-headed, manipulative narcissist. Trapped together for eternity, they collide and clash endlessly, providing dramatic illustration of Sartre's oft-quoted maxim, "Hell is other people."
Sartre apparently anchored his play on the opposition between a fantastic premise and an almost banal realistic style. But director Hannon, basing his efforts on a concept by Brett Gandy, has wrenched the piece out of its historical context and recast it as a bit of Felliniesque surrealism. The costumes (Megan Fraher) and makeup (Turrado) are extreme. Inez wears a provocative, vaguely sci-fi outfit in red and black. Credeau wears tall platform shoes, an eccentric Victorian outfit, and green glitter in his hair. Estelle is costumed in a virginal but revealing costume and moves in a doll-like, mechanical fashion. The valet (Bobby Gold), who serves as hell's majordomo, is buff, barefooted, and bare-chested. Hannon also adds distracting musical underscoring and fussy light cues.
In this production, the play seems turgid and dated. It depends for its effectiveness on a tight and searing ensemble performance. But here, though the actors ably do what is asked of them, they are hamstrung by a production more loyal to the concept than to the play, trading visceral human drama for stylized production values.
Presented by MAN Power Entertainment at the Lounge Theatre,
6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.
Tue. 8 p.m. Apr. 8-May 27.
(800) 595-4849. www.hellsisjustotherpeople.com.