Think about your life. You've probably faced some hardships and experienced moments of happiness. Are these moments a part of a pre-determined destiny? Or are we able to pick and choose the ups and downs we face in life in order to make us stronger?
Now think about who you meet in life. Family, friends and lovers-true, but also perfect strangers-people who constantly judge everything we do. Do these judgments contribute to our destiny or is destiny only something we can control?
These issues are all explored in Jean-Paul Sartre's powerful one act play, \No Exit,"" currently being performed by the University Theater. While the play was originally written in response to the behavior of the French in 1944, its themes are still relevant today.
According to Norma Saldivar, producing director of University Theater, this is the perfect play to perform in an academic setting because it elicits a deep discussion of how we act as individuals.
""[No Exit] is about people taking responsibility for their actions,"" Saldivar said. ""It forces us to look at what do [in life], the actions we commit against others.""
Set in a bare white room furnished with only three chairs, three people learn they are in hell and are forced to spend eternity locked in this room together. Upon first glance, each character believes they have been unjustly sent to hell, and there has been a mistake in their ""room assignments"" since they are nothing like each other.
We meet the characters one by one. There is Garcin, a journalist who stood by his principles during war time; Inez, a post office clerk who only looked out for herself; and Estelle, a young girl still unsure of her existence. As the play moves on, the audience begins to learn more about these characters and why they were brought together, as well as a shocking revelation of each character's true reason for being sent to hell.
For the actors, it was a new experience in getting to play an abstract type of character, especially one who is sent to hell. Kelly Venn, who plays Estelle, said it was an awakening experience for her.
""[We had to] constantly be on our feet, like being on a merry-go-round,"" Venn said. ""[But] the characters were so abstract that having anyone in this situation [appear] normal would be a little uncomfortable.""
Joanna Buckner, who plays Inez, agreed, saying that while it was fun it also got rather exhausting at times, since the play runs without any breaks.
""The structure of the play creates a hell [of sorts],"" Buckner said, ""with no relief, no respite, no chance to start over or catch your breath-it's conducive to a mini-hell for an actor.""
The play focuses on the philosophical ideas of existentialism-that we have the power to control our own destiny as well as the scary truth that it is other people that form our notion of hell since they are the ones who may one day cast judgment on our lives. While it doesn't ask the audience to adopt these ideas, the play's goal is to generate conversation of these topics.
Bill Whitney, who plays Garcin, hopes audiences will do just that- use the play's messages to assess their own lives.
""[Audiences] should be unsettled; they should think about themselves in that situation,"" Whitney said. ""Sartre wanted them to reflect on their own lives and on the message that your life is what you do, because we are ultimately responsible for our own actions.
Saldivar agrees, but adds that there has to be a balance between focusing on our own lives and supporting those around us.
""Each of us is intertwined-there's no separation,"" Saldivar said. ""We have the ability to make choices and evaluate our [own] behavior, [yet we also] serve a purpose in each other's lives by supporting each other's journeys throughout our lifetime.""
""No Exit"" is a fast-paced gripping drama that everyone should see. No matter how one feels about philosophy, religion or destiny, they are issues everyone can comment on. As one line of the play constantly reminds us, while we may never truly know why we behave the way we do, ""You are [still] your life and nothing else.\
