No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre

“Hell is other people” is No Exit’s famous summation. It was first performed in Paris in 1944, John Huston directed the American premiere on Broadway in 1946 and the London debut that year was directed by Peter Brook. Sartre’s conceit was and remains intriguing, that in Hell there is no need for flames or horror. Just lock three people in a room for eternity and they will torture themselves with their behavior as they psychologically unravel. There is also the poignant device of them watching the world going on without them, connoting the passage of time.

No Exit’s enduring fascination is affirmed and reinvigorated by this audacious incarnation.

Also check out other Arts events in New York, Theatre events in New York.