By: JK Clarke
The idea, and the prevailing mental image, of Hell is fire and brimstone—a place of torture and physical agony. It is an archaic imagine, brought about by centuries of religious indoctrination of the masses and designed to maintain obedience and order among the populace, and to prevent wide-scale rebellion against the (clerical) establishment. But the Enlightenment and the arrival of the Industrial Revolution did much to dispel those notions for all but the devout. It has been argued, however, in philosophical circles, that some concept of Hell must nonetheless exist. So what exactly is it, then? No Exit, the brilliant and profound 1944 play by French writer/philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and now running through March 30 at The Pearl Theatre Company, attempts to address just that.
It’s impossible to briefly encapsulate the various messages and meanings behind No Exit. Discussions and deconstructions are worthy of an entire, dedicated college course. But that doesn’t make for an inaccessible play. On the contrary, both Sartre’s crisp dialog and Linda Ames Keys strong and precise direction make this a riveting and thought-provoking production. And the acting is top-notch: Bradford Cover (Cradeau, the journalist) is complex and multi-layered, a man who has fooled even his living self into believing he was a hero; Jolly Abraham (Inez) is the tough postal worker who must fend for herself and does so with utter confidence; and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris plays the coquette Estelle with more complexity than one would expect upon first encountering her. She’s simultaneously self-centered and ambitious, playing shy and flirtatious to her advantage. There is wonderful chemistry between the actors whose characters, paradoxically, are not meant to have any.
No Exit is by no means a lighthearted play for a fanciful evening out. But it is one that will ensure thought provoking discussions between friends and a memorable theatrical experience.
No Exit. Through March 30 at The Pearl Theatre Company (555 West 42nd Street, at 11th Avenue). www.pearltheatre.org
Photos: Al Foote III