Friday, July 13, 2012

Classic, iconic, timeless -- these are just a few of the words that can be used in reference to Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit." But the one word that OUR Theatre company honed in on in choosing to produce this masterpiece in this year's Capital Fringe is who. Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? Questions each and every individual asks themselves everyday, sometimes consciously, but more often unconsciously. It is the central question that the three antihero's of No Exit grapple with behind the walls of that small locked room of Sartre's hell."Who am I" is a question that actors often ask themselves, not only unconsciously, but consciously,  and deliberately, from show to show, scene to scene, moment to moment. And the performers of No Exit have had a blast digging into the psyches of these characters, but not without some trepidation in dealing with such complex layers in the three. OUR Theatre's production of No Exit has been adapted for today's DC Fringe audiences, one of the most challenging aspects of this production. With the play's finely woven plot and philosophical hypothesis of existentialism, adapting Sartre can one of the most difficult artistic endeavors one can attempt. Still, OUR theatre has done so, and almost seven decades after their world premier, the three damned souls are still going at it, different in many ways, but with the same old human vices that made them doomed sinners, 68 years ago. This production will be unmistakably No Exit, bringing the question more into the awareness of Fringe audiences:  Who am I? Who are you? Who are they? Who are we? -- primary questions due in large part to the ever shrinking global community in which we live, where we constantly answer the question, whether it be by managing our image through social media, choosing to flirt with the attractive person in the supermarket, or participating in a political protest or exercise. It's all affected by who he or she is, who we are, who they are, because we are all linked together in this life, and, in Sartre's metaphorical afterlife, in death as well. In the play Sartre shows us that imprisonment isn’t created by the prison itself, but what we do with the boundaries we are given, boundaries that come from the questions, and can be overcome in answering the questions.  No Exit, and iconic play. If you've seen it, come out and enjoy it again and afresh at the Capital Fringe, and if you haven't...then yeah you should.

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