by Brian Paul Scipione
Death without End
Inès slips behind Estelle and coos comfortingly in her ear, gives her promises of faith, sisterhood and protection, and then suddenly she pinches her and shoves her away. . . Estelle cozies up to Garcin and whispers of an endless devotion in the only place that, endless, really has any meaning, then she turns away, haughtily dismissing him. . . Garcin shrugs aside his social predators and affirms his own solitude and determination, only to fall prostrate moments later before the prey turned predator. . . and so the eternal chess match of Sartre’s No Exit has begun.
Chaotic Theatre’s production at the Blue Theatre makes no bones about the fact that most audience members know they are walking into a glimpse of damnation. They even quote the play’s most memorable line on the back of the program, “Hell is other people.”
The set is perfect: an unmistakeable dead end. A white abyss, where imagination would be an intruder. The sound design is that of a punchy, eerie, nearly silent abyss. The set pieces are befitting of an eternal way station, because who really is comfortable waiting? But it is the pacing of this production that really seals the deal. When there is a pause, it is convincingly thoughtful for all involved. When there is a sudden burst of dialogue, it is somehow both spontaneous and expected.
by Brian Paul Scipione
À huis ouvert: A Conversation with Director Andrew Black
If you wander over to the Blue Theater on any of the first three weekends of July you will happen upon the Chaotic Theater Company’s newest production: Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. An existential literary classic and a definitive forerunner of the movement of the theater of the absurd, No Exit has been captivating and frightening audiences since its debut in German-occupied Paris in May, 1944. This is no obscure and rambling philosophical work. It’s a tightly woven drama that delights and mocks the viewer at the same time.
Three strangers are trapped in a room that can be nowhere else but hell itself. To quote Gassner and Quinn, “Each of the characters needs the other two to create some illusion about himself. Since existence, for Sartre, is the ability to create one’s future, the opposite of existence is hell, where man has no power to create his future” (1969).
Director Andrew Black took some time from hectic last minute preparations to answer questions about this new production.
What can we expect?
“I don’t want to say too much. We intend to give the audience the full experience of a night in hell. It’s very entertaining but it’s not a comedy.”
The cast?
“I’ve never worked with them before. In fact, I’ve never seen or heard of any of them before the audition. ( . . .) They were exactly what I was looking for. I’ve never been so happy with a cast in my whole life. They were very open with trying new things. They were open with allowing vulnerability and emotion to come out on stage and that’s intricate to acting, whether it be, comedy, Shakespeare, a tragedy, a philosophical play or a farce. You have to bring the words to life. (. . . ) It comes from the energy of the emotion. This is a high energy play. It’s intense, intense, intense.”
Why ‘No Exit’?
“I saw it for the first time ten years ago and it’s always stuck in my head as a very intriguing concept: that at the end of our lives that this is it. This is all there is. The characters are in hell and there is no hope but there’s always something. There may be pain and suffering and struggling but there’s still something else. There is no God but there are others. God may be dead but there’s still plenty of humanity. (. . .) The reason I like this show so much is because it takes everyone’s preconception of hell and turns it on its head. It’s horrifying and a breath of fresh air at the same time.”
Why now?
“We’ve modernized it slightly but the whole point of the play is that it’s anytime. It’s not three hundred years from now. It’s not three hundred years ago. It’s anytime. It’s about humans trying to cope with themselves, trying to deal with their humanity.”
Final thoughts?
“It’s a great show to see if you’ve ever considered your death, your sins and how you are going to deal with them. At some point you have to come to grips with your life, with your soul. Everyone has to ask themselves are you going to be able to deal with your life when it’s said and done?”
No Exit plays at the Blue Theater at 916 Springdale Rd., behind the Goodwill warehouse (click for map). No Exit runs Thursdays through Sundays, July 1 to July 17. Sunday shows begin at 5 pm. All other shows are at 8 pm. For more information and tickets check out http://chaotictheatre.org/
Lysistrata is a surprise in the compact canon of Greek drama. It's Aristophanes' clever satire of two usually unassociated aspects of manliness -- the male as warrior and the male as lover. Swordsmen in each case, although of quite different aspect.
There's a historical context of great seriousness to it involving wars between Greek city states in B.C. 413. That may partly explain why this text was awarded only third place in the theatrical competition that year. That background has dropped away in the 2500 years since that time, and Lysistrata stands -- erect -- on its own merciless mockery of the awkward aspects of human lust. Let's face it -- an aroused man is a bizarre sight, with his manly pride and attention concentrated in a yearning member, usually hidden. Nothing is more urgent for him that the business immediately at hand -- and if there were only some way to take him firmly near the short and curlies, one could lead him just about anywhere.
The Chaotic Theatre Company, established in 2009, has taken on familiar classics with the evident aim of giving them distinctive interpretations. Their Alice! was a psychotic adventure in the wonderland of an institute for the insane and their Midsummer Night's Dream was an effective although unadorned version of that familiar Shakespeare text, assisted by a guitar band.
Their Lysistrata is an intriguing two-speed interpretation. The thesis -- never really exploited or completely explained -- is that the events we are witnessing take place in some undefined future time. The company combines an anonymous but intact translation of Aristophanes' mocking, often ribald text with monologue commentaries delivered by individual actors. Jenny Lavery, Aja McMillan, Elexia Lowe and Donovan McCallum reflect on our culture's commercialisation of sexual themes, speak of uneasy feelings about sexual self images and seek to define manliness and womanliness. This additional material is credited in the program to them and to director Michael Floyd, whose program notes evoke the same themes.
