Hell is other people but this play is anything but torture.Within the first 20 minutes you understand why it sold out its run before its opening show had started. Sartre’s famous existentialist drama and most toxic pseudo-love triangle set in hell is delivered perfectly over the two hour run time and makes you understand why it sold out its run before the opening night had even started.
Opening with a minimal set design of simple black curtains and red painted walls with possible claw marks going up them to link to the expected fires of hell, are three sofas and a table with a knife and a statuette of two faces . This adds to the isolating boredom of their punishment and keeps us focused on these deteriorating characters as they cope with becoming “absentees”(dead). We are introduced to these characters through the one by one entrances with the valet (played by Robbie Morris) is so delightfully creepy and unnatural with his character , coming off as an aristocratic Cheshire Cat. The facial journey he goes through during the exchange between him and Garcin about his apparently lack of blinking is so funny if not unnerving, which is perfect for the character.
Hartley Hobson who plays our first character Garcin , who near the start of the play performs silent pantomime of him being bored and alone , instantly presents himself with the air of a man who is desperate for control and is scared to be lacking in his current predicament. The humour of his performance wanes throughout the show as he becomes more touted by the reality of his situation but his comedic timing is fantastic and balanced with the hilarity of the vain and vapid Estelle.
Georgia Thomas brings a sweet innocence and a great comedic timing to the portrayal of Estelle , as aloof and self centred as her character is ,showing the range of the character from her hilarious disgust at Garcin wanting to take his jacket off while in hell to her manic dancing monologue spiralling from having admitted the reason for her damnation- the drowning of her child .
This innocence is harshly contrasted with firey anger of the more pessimistic and manipulative Inez.She helps drive a lot of the torture between the characters and her analysis of the other characters motives and their situation , creating significant tension especially when she shifts her situation from being a third wheel cuck to a mood killing voyuer. Molly Gilbert rages as Inez showing her quick shifts from perpetually annoyed at Garcin to possessively romanic towards Estelle , presenting a much more sinister side to her.
The descent of the characters as they slowly crack while dealing with each other and grieve the loss they feel after their connection to earth finally ends . The core themes of the play are the ideas of the perception of oneself by other people, as well as ideas of damnation , regrets and grief which were all performed so well by the cast. Their final realisation of understanding they could leave but they won’t , as well as their collective manic laughter was haunting but powerful.
Image provided via Bedlam Theatre Press Release