Stage Review - No Exit (Olympia Little Theatre)
Stage Review - No Exit
Presented By: Olympia Little Theatre - Olympia, WA
Show Run: January 31 - February 16, 2025
Date Reviewed: Sunday, February 09, 2025
Run Time: 90 minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Three people, recently deceased, all find themselves together in a room with no windows, one door that is locked from the outside, and three chaise lounges, or divans, spread around the perimeter of the room. Each of the guests know that they’re in hell, but it’s not the hell that any of them expected. There’s no fire, no brimstone, no torture devices, just a plain room decorated in a French style, and two other people, none of them knowing why they’re together or why they’re in this room. The strange bellboy who escorted them all in is no help, and though he tells each of them to just hit the ringer on the wall to call him if they need anything, it is hell, after all, so it figures that the bell doesn’t work. This is the setting for No Exit, the 1944 play by French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. The play, which is running on stage in Olympia at Olympia Little Theatre through February 16, is the story of these three individuals, Vincent Cradeau, Inèz Serrano, and Estelle Rigault, each with a different theory on why they are there, Cradeau claims to be in hell because of his pacifist beliefs, Estelle believes they are there as the result of some sort of mistake, and Inéz claims that regardless of what anyone says, they wouldn’t all be there if there wasn’t a good reason and demands that they all come clean with each other. The Olympia Little Theatre production, directed by Sebastian de la Cruz, values performance over pomp, allowing the acting to hold the spotlight to tell this story of responsibility and consequence, perception and validation.
In this production, Cradeau is played by Jamie Flynn, Inéz by Alexa Martin Del Campo, and Estelle by Andi Holbrook. The fourth horseman of the apocalypse, the bellboy, is played by Michael Shipley. Jamie’s Cradeau is led in first by the bellboy, full of questions, and a bit irate that he’s being led into this room with no exit with little explanation. He’s even more irate when the other two are placed in with him. He’s set on his story, that he was sent to hell because he was a pacifist, but as the audience finds out with all three of these characters, there’s much more to each of them. It’s a safe bet that people don’t end up in this specific location for no reason. After the other two arrive, and conversations begin to circulate about “coming clean”, Cradeau’s solution for spending eternity with the other two is to just stay in his corner and have everyone leave each other alone. That’s easier said than done, of course. Jamie is a good Cradeau, especially as his personality exposition develops and the audience discovers that, above all, he’s looking out for himself. Inèz, a lesbian postal worker is second to enter. While Cradeau is a bit shady about why he is in hell, Inèz is the opposite, honest to a fault, fully admitting her flaws and why she has been sent there, and the champion of the idea that they should all open up about their pasts. Alexa plays Inèz with a good deal of strength and conviction, but she’s also quick to get under everyone’s skin. Finally, there’s Andi’s Estelle, self-centered and more interested in appearances than anything else. In fact, when she enters the room, her first consideration is which divan coordinates best with what she’s wearing. She’s also the first to discover that there are no mirrors in hell. Like the other two, Andi does a nice job with this character, she is definitely aloof and self-serving, and extremely worried about others’ perceptions of her.
The play is ultimately about the three opening up to each other, and seeing how that impacts their relationships among each other with the information that they’ve learned, and how that will inform how they survive with each other for the rest of eternity. Sartre long believed that hell is simply other people, so you can probably figure out where this is going, but watching it all happen feels like a study in behavioral science and relationships. As each tries to play each other against the other, and test each other’s limits (that’s a lot of “others”), they learn how important perceptions are as well as lessons about consequences and responsibility. The group in these scenes is very good together, they keep a nice pace in their delivery, and consistently deliver on the personalities of their characters. Finally, on the character side is Michael Shipley. Michael’s stage time isn’t as much as the others, obviously, but his time on stage is well used, his characterization is spooky and strange, but he brings a posture to it, and with that an air of superiority, and to the audience a bit of humor.
The production is simply designed, but it works here, and most of the credit on that front goes to Naliya Rubin, who designed the French inspired set, and provides the costuming. Kendra Malm designed the lighting and Jessica Janét the sound in a show that relies on its actors to paint a picture of a hell that we’re probably already in rather than one that is a post mortal destination.
No Exit tells the story of three individuals stuck inside a hell that is represented by a windowless room and a locked door, trapped there with nothing but each other and the revelation that they have to live together as each others’ mirrors and decide between keeping up a charade hoping to make it easier or be honest about their lives, take responsibility for their actions, and learn to deal with each other in that context for eternity. Performed by a cast of four that bring this allegory to life in a thought provoking way, the Olympia Little Theatre version of No Exit will leave you contemplating your own actions, and how your self-validation is guided by others’ perceptions or your own, which mirror is the most important to be seen through.
No Exit runs on stage at Olympia Little Theatre through February 16. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://olympialittletheater.org/.
Photo credit: Scott Ellgen
