Pleasance in existential difficulties

By Clemmie Jackson-Stops
Huis Clos (No Way Out)
Jean-Paul Sartre
Translated by Frank Hausser
Pleasance Theatre
Monday March 19, Tuesday March 20, 2007

Taking on the challenge of Jean-Paul Sartre, the Pleasance Theatre has revived one of his darkest and most influential plays, Huis Clos. Famous for coining the phrase, ‘hell is other people’, Sartre’s play is not an easy undertaking for any director.
Three damned individuals, trapped in the underworld, are pitted against one another. Realising their intended punishment for their earthly sins is to remain for eternity in one another’s company, Estelle, Inez and Garcin become each other’s torturers.

Written in 1943, the play is steeped in a dark humour that has barely aged and is still suited to a modern-day Islington audience.
Even so, the tricky balance between comedy and tragedy so finely tuned in the dialogue was somewhat lost in this production. Perhaps a result of the inexperience of the actors, Agnew’s direction failed to find the full force of Sartre’s wit and some genuinely amusing moments were overlooked.
However, this is not to say the acting was poor. Thoughtful performances from all three cast-members just about maintained the momentum of the fast-paced dialogue. Nicholas Karpenko’s portrayal of Garcin’s cowardly and childish character improved as the play progressed leaving the audience with an amusing portrait of the only man trapped in the room, faced with two women intent on analysing his life for the rest of eternity.
Karlyn Stephen as Estelle played up the vanity and glitter of her Sex-and-the-City character well and yet her emphasis on the tragedy of the character overshadowed her wittier moments: ‘Why’s she dancing unless she is slimming?’
With a very bare set containing only three chairs, the actors had to work hard to ensure the pace of the play didn’t slow. And on the whole they succeeded. Acting to a half empty theatre on the matinee performance perhaps took some of the energy from the production but it would be no surprise to see a revival of humour this evening.
Agnew’s directing debut still has room for improvement as some stilted movements halted the flow of the action. In the end, however, although this is undoubtedly an amateur production taking on a complex and difficult play, it is nonetheless enjoyable for it.