No Exit

Produced by The Virtual Stage and Electric Company Theatre.

Premiere
May 1-10, 2008
The Hangar, Centre for Digital Media – Vancouver, BC

A mysterious valet ushers three people into a shabby hotel room. As the door locks behind them, an eternity of damnation lies ahead. What they soon discover is that hell isn’t fire and brimstone at all – it’s other people. Jean Paul Sartre’s 1944 existential classic, adapted from French by Paul Bowles, is skillfully re-imagined as a series of hidden cameras turn the stage into a cinema, and the audience into voyeurs as a meticulously staged live film takes place before your eyes. The result is a highly entertaining, live-mixed thriller that amplifies the psychology of three slightly-offstage performances by leveraging the techniques of cinema to deliver a high-impact stage experience.

“No future discussion of this play will be possible now without taking Collier’s invigorating re-imagining of it into account.”

Stage Door (San Francisco)

“Theatrical perfection…spectacularly brilliant…one of the finest theatrical achievements in recent memory”

Calgary Herald

Toronto Star

“A vibrant, very modern theatrical experience . . . the acting is uniformly powerful and committed, the stagecraft extremely skillful and focused.”

Toronto Star

Globe and Mail

“Brilliant…the bravest theatrical ride I’ve been on this year.”

Michael Harris, Globe and Mail

Vancouver Sun

“Filled with innovation … A jaw-dropping reminder that Vancouver’s site specific theatre scene remains a world leader.”

Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun

The Georgia Straight

“Director Kim Collier is a visionary … A riveting theatrical event.”

Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight

PHOTOS

 

VIDEO

AWARDS

JESSIE RICHARDSON THEATRE AWARDS, 2009:
Outstanding Production, Small Theatre
Critic’s Choice Innovation Award