NO Exit
by Jean-Paul Sartre
directed by Kevin Tumleson
Jean-Paul Sartre was a French philosopher famous as an existentialist. Throughout the course of his life (1905-1980), he wrote treatises, plays, essays, and novels. His fictional work was generally intended as a medium through which he could explore his bigger philosophical ideas.
Written in 1944, the play focuses on three individuals trapped together in hell. Sartre portrays hell as a locked drawing room with three couches. This doesn’t sound like the traditional conception of hell and it isn’t. But trust us, this version of hell is, well, hellish. As the three characters try to determine why they are in hell and how they are to be tormented, they soon come to the conclusion that they will act as torturers for each other. The play famously concludes with one of Sartre’s most-quoted lines of all time: "hell is other people."