IMAGO THEATRE is a curious mix of conventional and
experimental, making their money touring with productions like the
kid-friendly Frogz and Biglittlethings, returning to
Portland to try out short-run shows like the recent APIS, or the
Taste of Honey, a wordless, out-there piece about bees.
No Exit is one of the cash cows, a well-received show that’s
run across the country. It’s played Portland several times over the
years, but the current iteration is unique in that it stars three local
actors—Third Rail ensemble members Tim True and Maureen Porter,
and scene staple JoAnn Johnson, all of whom are tremendous here.
No Exit presents Hell as parlor drama, literally: The play’s
three protagonists are escorted to a room decorated only with three
miniature sofas, and instructed that this is how they’re going to spend
the afterlife. It doesn’t take long for the characters to determine
that they’ve been handpicked for their ability to torment one
another—that, in the money quote, “Hell is other people.”
Even the play’s director, Jerry Mouawad, will describe Jean-Paul
Sartre’s script as “a good play, but not a great play.” Imago’s
staging, though—a tilting platform that tips and lurches as the
characters move about—is a perfect physical translation of the
interpersonal dynamics at work. In a play where allegiances turn on a
phrase, the meticulous tableaux created on the uncertain stage add a
level of tension and depth that the script alone lacks, transforming a
mediocre play into a compelling one.