This is the play in which, famously, Jean-Paul Sartre decreed that hell is other people. There isn’t a need for pitchforks of torturers: other people can do the job just as well. So when three of the recently dead come together in a tiny, cluttered space with a locked door, no off-switch for light, and no possibility of sleep, ever, you can just tell that things are not going to go happily.

Originally scheduled for earlier in this erratic year, Arcade Theatre’s production, directed by Shaun Swain, uses the very small set to emphasise the play’s claustrophobia. The room in which the action takes place is cluttered and unattractive, and no-one can take even three paces in the same direction.

After a few attempts at some sort of politeness the inhabitants, none of whom is particularly nice, get stuck in. Dead they may be, but that’s no reason not to attack any shreds of self-respect the others may still be harbouring. Tempers flare, alliances and rivalries form and evaporate, noise levels go up, the pretensions that somehow supported the characters’ earthly lives are punctured, and vilification reaches art-form levels. Each of them will have to exist not only with themselves, which is bad enough, but with the others. For ever.

Kathleen Kennedy is outstanding as former postal worker Inez, who specialises in mockery. Estelle and Garcin, played by Marea Colombo and Isaac Martyn, are more sympathetic, but not much. Special mention must be made of Shannon McCabe’s performance as the elegant Valet, combining the supercilious air of the most snobbish waiters with finely calibrated mischief.

Hyperactive and unsettling, the production is deeply involving. The 25-odd audience was highly appreciative but also, I observed, happy to escape the enclosed space and return to their normal Dunedin lives. 

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Dunedin’s Mary Hopewell Theatre hums on the opening night of Arcade Theatre’s take on Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. The stage is set in the round with sparse props on a raised platform. Shannon McCabe plays the exacting Valet, introducing the play to the audience, and the limbo setting to each character as they arrive.  

First on the scene is Joseph Garcin (Isaac Martyn). The Valet and Garcin move in the claustrophobic, crowded set before Inèz Serrano (Katherine Kennedy) is ushered in followed by Estelle Rigault (Marea Colombo). The costume design, by Ross Heath, adds to the unsettling content and further confuses the character’s temporalities.

The comedy kicks in with Garcin, Serrano and Rigault commanding the cramped platform, weaving, ducking and chasing each other. The actors are stunning, each embodying their character uniquely. Their beautiful performances are enhanced by sharp lighting changes, designed by Anna van den Bosch, commanding the audience’s mood and allowing for flashbacks.

Theatre in the round is a challenge to the audience’s eye but director Shawn Swain’s careful touch ensures captivation. The play challenges questions of morality, good and evil, and who really is deserving of a place in Hell.

Arcade Theatre continue to deliver the goods. Their performances are a guaranteed night of polish, absurdism and fun. 

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