The cast included Tina Pettit as Inez, Erika Zaccaria as Estelle (with Barbara
Summerville taking the part on Thursdays - a long story) and John Zuniga as the valet. The
director was Dustin Shapard in his directorial d�but, and very well he did too.
A powerful play about three people in a room in Hell, the classical tortures that
Christians like to imagine (molten lead, sulphur, brimstone, etc) being replaced by the
three attacking each other verbally until they suddenly realize that their eternal
damnation is them in this room, hating each other for ever. A very black comedy about some
pretty horrible people.
It was a pretty yucky translation of a very good play I have to say, laying down the
subtleties of the original French text like bricks. Also it has various glaring errors
around which we worked something out.
The review for No Exit from the Colorado Springs
Independent, by David Sckolnik. Here are some extracts, I'll post the full review once
I've scanned it in.
Inside Upstart's Exit
"It's very good theater"
"The small audience on hand received an undiluted dose of fierce
commentary on the human animal and its behavior in society by intense, focused and
bitterly funny performances. The mire of discontent was orchestrated with an appropriate
amount of restraint and invention by first-time director Dustin Shapard. There could be
little resistance to Bucknall's ultimate realization that 'hell is other people,' so
excruciatingly earned through his gut-wrenching battles with Pettit."
(c) The Colorado Springs Independent, 1998
The review from the Gazette
in their GO! section.
Mark Arnest: ON STAGE
'No Exit's' fury, hysteria, cowardliness bring intensity to stage
There's not much to the synopsis of Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit": Three people
are locked together in a room in hell for eternity, unable either to escape each other or
to get along. But the Upstart Performing Ensemble's eloquent, intense production at the
Smokebrush Gallery Theater is anything but a one-note samba. Julian Bucknall, Tina Pettit
and Erika Zaccaria plumb the depths of Sartre's play to bring us a little bit of hell
right here.
On the surface, Sartre's scenario - a group of unlikeable people who do nothing and never
achieve satisfaction - is a lot like "Seinfeld," only without the laughs.
Sartre's master stroke in "No Exit" was to create three characters who need each
other as much as they despise each other. Although each is hateful to the others, Cradeau
and Inez both desire Estelle, and Estelle needs attention from someone - anyone - in order
to feel real.
The play's structure forms something akin to concentric circles, as the same things keep
happening in different ways. Its only breakthrough occurs when, after Cradeau pounds on it
hysterically, the door opens, flooding the room with red light - a wonderful effect from
lighting designer Tony Babin.
But no one dares to leave. Although their temperaments make redemption extremely unlikely,
they also understand that their only hope lies, somehow, within that room.
A very strong cast features Bucknall as Cradeau, a journalist who wants to be remembered
as a hero, even though he was a coward. Bucknall seethes with anxiety and equal parts of
self-importance and self-loathing. As the malicious Inez, Pettit's fury barely fits on the
stage. It's a theater cliche that anger is the easiest emotion to play - but that's no
cliche when it's played this well.
Zaccaria makes the beautiful, fluttery Estelle loathsome and pathetic at the same time.
There's a lot of laughing on stage, but precious few laughs in the audience. And Zaccaria
gets some of them in the simplest ways, such as how she looks at Inez when the latter asks
whether it really makes a difference to her that Cradeau is a man. John Zuniga makes the
most of his small role as the smug, sadistic valet.
In his directorial debut, Dustin Shapard gives a tight, beautifully shaped account of a
difficult play, one that uses both silence and hysteria effectively. "No Exit"
is talky, but Shapard emphasizes what movement the play contains. He uses the entire space
effectively, and the well-prepared cast meshes into a real ensemble. It's one of the
year's most exciting evenings of theater.
Even the intimate setting downstairs at the Smokebrush is perfect, emphasizing the
situation's claustrophobia.
The production's only jarring notes are the music at the beginning and end of the play -
"Sympathy for the Devil" and "Ring of Fire" - which, although related
to the hell motif, seem to come from a different milieu than the play.
(c) The Gazette 1998
