Considered an “existential classic,” the play “No Exit,” written in 1944 by French author Jean-Paul Sartre, explores the burning question, “What is hell?”
“That query stays relevant as long as the afterlife remains ambiguous,” said Allen Twitchell, Fort Scott Community College’s theater instructor, who is directing a version of the play that opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Ellis Family Fine Arts Center. “In the end (or the beginning, if you will) hell might just turn out to be the eternal tortures we devise for ourselves.”
The play also runs at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is free (donations are always appreciated), but Twitchell cautions that some content might be a little intense for younger children.
Sartre’s tale involves an apparently unlikely trio of newly assigned residents of the netherworld who struggle to gain an understanding of the transgressions committed during their lives that resulted in eternal damnation and their relocation together.
“It is a powerful presentation, wrought with conflict and emotionality,” said Twitchell, “and the cast was eager to take on the challenge. I believe the results will speak for themselves.”
The cast features sophomore Isaiah Subbert as Garcin, and freshmen Jericho Jones as the Valet, Jaedyn (Ray) Lewis as Inez, and Regen Wells as Estelle.
The stage manager is freshman Jesse Dinneen, while Joshua Ramsey serves as technical director and Zachary Loper as audio engineer.
“No Exit,” however worthy, is not the show originally scheduled as the spring theater offering.
“Honestly, until fate determined otherwise, it was the plan to stage a musical, ‘The Fantasticks,’ which 30 years ago helped launch the career of film and television actor/writer/producer Jason Sudeikis, then a student-athlete at FSCC,” said Twitchell. “Unable to effectively match our talent pool with the vocal ranges required for the musical, we prudently decided to shuffle that show to the back burner and replace it on the schedule with a play that more adequately suited our resources.”
Theater scholarships are available for the 2025-26 school year. Contact Twitchell at allent@fortscott.edu for information.
The play opens next Thursday (March 27) and runs through Saturday (March 29.