FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 10, 2005

CONTACT: Clive Elliott, (515) 271-4598, clive.elliott@drake.edu
Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE THEATRE TO PRESENT SARTRE'S 'NO EXIT'

On Thursday, Feb. 24, Drake University Theatre will open its production of Jean-Paul Sartre's existential drama "No Exit."

Director Clive Elliott describes the play as intense and thought provoking for it poses many questions: Is the greatest pain imaginable the result of whips and thumbscrews, or is it the lies we inflict on ourselves? Can we freely invent ourselves, or would we rather exist in darkness than face the consequences of our actions?

Garcin, Estelle and Inez have an eternity to find out, Elliott said. "Trapped in a poorly decorated room for all time, the characters have nothing to do but torture each other," he added. "Each of them needs something the others are unwilling to give. Each of them has the means of escape, but first they have to free themselves from the hell that is other people – from the power the others possess when they are allowed to dictate the individual's sense of self."

Sartre, a professor of philosophy in France, was one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. He was one of the pioneers of existentialism, a philosophy asserting the freedom and responsibility of the individual. He was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II and his first play, "Les Mouches" ("The Flies"), was produced during the German occupation of France. "No Exit" was the first play to be produced after the liberation of Paris in 1944. The play is just 90 minutes long with no intermission because Sartre had to limit its length so that audience members could get home without violating curfew laws.

Although Sartre wrote important philosophical texts and novels, he believed that drama was a superior medium for spreading his ideas. After the war, he turned to writing full time. In 1964 he declined the Nobel Prize for Literature in protest of the values of bourgeois society.

Performances start at 8 p.m. Feb. 24, 25 and 26 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, in Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Tickets are $5 for the general public, $3 for students and senior citizens and $1 for those with a Drake ID. Reservations are required due to limited seating. For reservations, call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at (515) 271-3841.

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