Tonight at 7 p.m. in the Balch Arena Theater, Pen, Paint and Pretzels presents the forced triple from Hell.
This semester's workshop production "No Exit" by Jean Paul Sartre is a French existentialist play about a hell without the torture devices of modern horror films.
"What we have is the ultimate bad roommate situation," explained director Meron Langsner, a doctoral candidate in the department of drama and dance. The play explores the trials of two women and one man who are locked together in a tolerably comfortable room with limited furniture, a puzzling piece of art and no exit for all eternity.
Instead of relying on external torture, this Hell depends on its inhabitants to mentally and emotionally torture themselves.
"The chemistry between the three people is so different that anything can happen," said Langsner. "Stuck in the room, all they can do is emotionally flay each other. Anything one does will affect the other two."
Langsner explained that he has wanted to bring this play to the Tufts community for years. It is well suited to a college production, requiring few technical resources and a small cast.
In this performance, the only set pieces are black rehearsal cubes, a few hand props and some choice sound and light cues. The de-emphasis on the objects surrounding the characters throws the full weight of the play onto the actors themselves.
Don't expect to be confronted by some highfalutin, egg-headed drama, though. As a professional fight choreographer, Langsner decided to take the show in a different direction. "This is a very physical interpretation of an intellectual play," Langsner said. "I see acting as being a very physical thing and I wanted to play to that."
The script includes several knife fights as well as some surreal moments featuring song or dance. Paul Richards, a senior playing the role of Joseph Garcin, echoed Langsner's ideas on the play's interpretation. "This isn't about French people in berets discussing intellectual ideas. We're playing it for a modern audience, and specifically for college students," he said.
In addition to the three characters locked in their chamber for eternity, there is another character known as "the bellhop" — he is only in the play for the first few minutes, but provides the audience with an important explanation for how the three characters find themselves stuck in this room together.
"The way I see it is I'm kind of the puppet master," said Austin Bening, a freshman who plays the bellhop. "Have you ever played the game ‘The Sims?' These are my Sims — I put them together and see what happens."
Though Joseph Garcin is the protagonist, he hardly has more stage time than his chamber-mates, Inez Serrano (freshman Maya Grodman) and Estelle Rigault (freshman Erica Goldstein). The three spend their time manipulating one another to achieve personal comfort — and to gain the upper hand in their lust triangle.
Several of the scuffles that erupt from this power struggle are shown through representative movement, true to Langsner's vision of a physical production. But these moments are not jarring. In an already surreal setting, they fit right in.
If the intellectually interesting script and high energy aren't tempting enough, the production also offers another draw — especially for those who can relate to the anxieties of an uncertain future. Right after being escorted into the chamber by the bellhop, before the arrival of his two chamber-mates, Richards is left on stage alone, contemplating the prospect of being in Hell for eternity. "I told him, you're a graduating senior, on stage, alone," said Langsner. "What do you want to do?"
Tickets to this evening's performance of "No Exit" are free.
