It's a text that holds a special place in our hearts since it is a play we read together in college, actually before we started dating (all those decades ago!). Perhaps I'm overstating things a little when I say "our" hearts, since I remember Dana frequently "absenting" herself from lectures to spend time wandering in the halls to escape what were admittedly boring lectures. True story: a friend of ours asked the professor for some make-up work in that class for Dana, and his response was "I thought she had dropped." So when I heard from a student of mine that No Exit was playing locally, I had to check it out, for old time's sake. It would give Dana a chance to see all those things she had missed in the early 80s.
I had never been to the Mobtown Theater, and it was a bit of an adventure getting there. Armed with my Honda's GPS and Dana's iPhone, you would think it a lock, but not so. The GPS got us to the general area, the iPhone concurred, albeit with the usual delay, but the actual building was nowhere to be seen (no entrance, ironically). We were up and down the road several times before deciding that the theater had to be behind one of the warehouses that lined the street, and risked a right turn up an icy one-laner towards what appeared to be a series of loading docks. But it was the right place. About 15 other existentialists also found the theater, and we were treated to an OK performance. I loved Inez and Estelle, although the latter clearly wasn't paying attention to Garcin who told us that tears can't be shed in hell; she squeezed out several during one of her flashes to earth when she saw the uncovering of her baby-killing legacy. We were so close to the stage that I saw the tears splash at her feet. Quite impressive. Inez, although not wholly malevolent, did come close to the original. But poor Garcin kept flubbing his lines, and the illusion of the play was shattered twice when he had to restart lengthy speeches in order to avoid saying the opposite of what he was supposed to be saying.
There was a 10-minute intermission during which the three actors remained on stage in their respective seats, just sitting. The play bill indicated as much, and I wondered if they might break the fourth wall and field questions from the 15 of us (hell for actors is not, after all, other people), but they just sat contemplating their predicament. Cynic that she is, Dana whispered that perhaps she could hint to them about the unfortunately placed large green neon "Exit" sign to the lobby right by the stage -- if Garcin would just turn his head and lean a little to his left, maybe, just maybe . . . -- but she decided against it. No wonder she left those lectures so frequently back in the day.
But I did enjoy the play, and I think I'll keep an eye open for coming events from the Mobtown Players, now that I know how to get there.
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