80 years ago… a play premiered in Paris that altered our perception of reality. Now, the C.A.G.E. Theatre Company under the direction of its artistic director, Michael Hagins, presents Matthew Tiemstra, Gigi Principe, Alaina Hammond & Charlotte Vaughn Raines in Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist masterpiece NO EXIT.

Translated from the original and adapted and directed for today’s reality by MICHAEL HAGINS, the production has a limited run of Fri., July 5 & Sat., July 6 @ 8:00 pm; Sun., July 7 @ 7:00 pm and Thurs., Fri., Sat., July 11, 12, 13 @ 8:00 pm at one of NYC’s edgiest theatres, The Theater Under St. Marks, 94 St Marks Place, NYC.

Arts journeyman, Michael Hagins, transports us into Sartre’s version of Hell: A mysterious impenetrable room where individuals are trapped and forced to see themselves through the eyes of others. In this interpretation, an immersive element is added to allow the audience to join in the claustrophobic atmosphere thus making hell more than “other people” it makes it ourselves.

Alaina Hammond is thrilled to be working with Michael, Matthew and Gigi again—and Charlotte and Maile for the first time! In addition to her work as an actress, Alaina is a playwright who has had more than 50 original plays performed off-off Broadway. She lives in California with her husband and son.

We spoke to Alaina about surreal it is to do an existential play.

What made you decide to do this play? 

I fell in love with the play at the age of 14. It contributed to my ambition to be a playwright. I went on to formally study philosophy, in both college and graduate school, and my love for No Exit deepened.

Now, in the days of social media, avatars, and other “masks,” how has Sartre’s message stood up against the test of time? 

It’s a bizarrely optimistic play. Its central thesis is that life matters, possibly for the worse. These doomed characters provide an example of how NOT to behave, for human actions have metaphysical resonance. If Hell is other people, might the opposite also be potentially true? Given the right circumstance, could other people provide Heaven, or at least Not Hell?? The good news, and the bad news, is that you are your life and nothing else. In “our” case, it’s bad news. But the audience, still living, might learn from our mistakes. 

What is your creative process? 

Um. I’m pretentious?

Do you feel an extra sense of responsibility in doing a piece so known; so historic? 

Aw man. Like I wasn’t feeling the pressure before!

But seriously, not really. As much as I love No Exit, if anything I feel LESS individual responsibility. Because Sartre’s legacy is intact no matter what. Living playwrights are another matter.

What is Hell to you? 

To exist without love, in every sense of the word “love.” And the word “exist,” I suppose. Did I mention I’m pretentious?