Sartre's No Exit in a Lisbon Classroom

After moving to Portugal, I wondered what I would need to do to see English language theater, other than fly to London. Well, it turns out that there are at least a couple of good English language troops in Lisbon, mostly featuring Portuguese actors who are fluent in English. I saw one doing Sartre’s Huis Clos (aka No Exit) last week. I vaguely remember reading this play in college, mostly as an example of existential philosophy. So I was expecting some tough, dense sledding. Not so! Done in an updated translation that included modern social references (social media, WiFi, etc), this was a very accessible play, not at all heavily philosophical. The crisp direction and three talented young actors created a lively evening that never lagged or became enmeshed in philosophic navel-gazing.

The play, depicting three recent arrivals in hell, was performed in a dingy, deconstructed small classroom in the dark, gloomy National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon. You had to walk through dimly lit corridors go get to the "theater", a nice touch for a production set in hell. Asbestos tiles above were knocked out, the furniture had scratches, the blackboard was scrawled with graffiti. Lighting varied from shadowy to hellish reds and primary greens. The actors are led into this "hell" by a valet who is stingy with information. These three will live here together for eternity, without knowing precisely why they are condemned to such a fate. Over the 90 minutes of the one-act play, we learn why. A soldier cheated on his wife, then was executed for desertion. A sadistic lesbian seduced her cousin's wife, then killed them both. A nymphomaniac killed her illegitimate child. These details emerge gradually, rather like a prolonged court proceeding. In fact, the French title Huis Clos is sometimes translated as "in camera", a legal term for a closed court hearing. But here, the three condemned people are their own juries and judge, eviscerating one another and giving rise to the ending gloomy morale that "Hell is other people".

The three young performers gave excellent, nuanced performances, avoiding the histrionics that would be easy to lapse into with such melodramatic characters. Their English was accented but understandable, and there were only occasional flips from American to British accents. The American accent seemed standard, as it is throughout Lisbon, most likely due to the prevalence of US movies and TV shows here--its uncommon for US films to be dubbed into Portuguese, so film audiences mostly hear American accents and read Portuguese subtitles.

Congratulations to the JA Theater Company and director Suresh Nampuri for an engaging evening with a classic play that is not performed very much. I will be intrigued to see Portuguese takes on classic US and British drama as I see more plays here.