Asheville

TheatreUNCA Presents Existentialist Play “No Exit”

TheatreUNCA’s newest production is “No Exit,” a play from renowned French playwright Jean-Paul Sartre, with showings February 29 through March 2 at 7:30 p.m. and March 3rd at 2 p.m in the Carol Belk Theatre at UNC Asheville.

The play begins with three people locked in a room together with no windows and no mirrors. They all carry secrets of life and death. As the past rears up, the present becomes hell. It is a depiction of the afterlife that reflects Sartre’s ideas about the impact of others’ gaze upon us, the ways people view each other and form identities, as the characters wrangle with their own lies about and self-perception of their lives.

“This is one of the most famous existentialist works of art for a reason,” said sophomore Aidan Nigrelli. “And the cast I’m working with have been brilliant at rising to the challenges of its complexity.”

Nigrelli will be playing Cradeau, who is one of the three locked in the room, alongside Chrisoula Theodorou as Estelle, Susan Hudson as Inez, and Amber Brown as the Bellboy who delivers them to the room. Aaron Snook, adjunct professor of drama, is directing.

Tickets are available and will run $15 for general admission, $10 for UNC Asheville faculty/staff, and $5 for students. The runtime is 80 minutes, with no intermission.

This play is adapted from the French by Paul Bowles and is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.

Featuring Matt Files as Cellist. Photography by Adam Sorgi. Artwork by Ken Michaud.