Premiere in 2022 and was invited to the Bregenz Festival in the same year.

Inèz, Estelle and Garcin can only guess as to why they ended up here–in a room somewhere beyond life, without windows or mirrors, and with no way of switching off the light. Surrounded by tower-high walls, their only other contact is with a bizarre valet. Outside? There is no outside. Is this the ultimate hell?

Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist classic NO EXIT was first performed in Paris in 1944. It is a key work to understanding Sartre’s philosophy of freedom and revolves around themes of captivity, isolation and the altered perception of time that envelops things when the present is extended to an eternity. The play contains a wealth of knowledge that resonates with us, especially as we look back on the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

 

 

 

Original
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre(21 June 1905–15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. His work has also influenced sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies, and continues to influence these disciplines.
He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature despite attempting to refuse it, saying that he always declined official honours and that "a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution".

 

 

Media press

"Geschlossene Gesellschaft" sei die beste Inszenierung von Martin Kušej als Direktor des Burgtheaters überhaupt, meint Rezensent Wolfgang Kralicek in der Süddeutschen Zeitung (online 20. Februar 2022, 14:02 Uhr). Die Schauspieler:innen-Leistung hebt der erfreute Autor hervor – oft sei diese komisch und gelungen im Partner:innen-Spiel. Vor allem "das kühle, scharfe Spiel" von Tobias Moretti in dem laut Kralicek "auch etwas Geisterhaftes mitschwingt" findet der Autor erwähnenswert. Es bilde das Zentrum des Abends. auch diesen "Klassiker" würde Wolfgang Kralicek gerne mal wieder auf der Bühne sehen.
 
Man erhalte einen "eigentümlich bitteren Vorgeschmack auf die Plagen, die Plackerei in der Ewigkeit", schreibt Ronald Pohl im Standard. Man lausche den Wut- und Hassarien der drei Spieler:innen, blicke auf die "grell überschminkten Münder der Damen" und empfinde sich "doch merkwürdig allein gelassen in dieser (schlechten) Ewigkeit". (online 20. Februar 2022, 11:13 Uhr).
 
Was hat Kušej aus diesem Klassiker gemacht? Fantastisch viel, mit vier Stars des Burgtheaters in Hochform. Text, Gestik und Mimik säßen präzise.
schreibt Norbert Mayer in der Presse (20.2.2022).
 
"Kušej verzichtet diesmal dankenswerterweise beinahe zur Gänze auf die in seinen jüngeren Inszenierungen leider schon zur Gewohnheit gewordenen Schwarzpausen und lässt sogar fast ständig von oben besonders helles Licht über dem ganzen Saal erstrahlen." Wodurch sich eine gewisse "Höllenstimmung" auch aufs Publikum übertrage. Zu Recht feierte das Publikum diese Inszenierung, so Martin Lhotzky in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung (23.2.2022).

 

 

Director
Martin Kušej, born in Austria in 1961, studied German Literature and Sports Science before going on to study Directing in Graz. From 1993 onwards, he worked as Director of Schauspiel Stuttgart and worked at Burgtheater in Vienna and at Thalia Theater in Hamburg as well as at Zurich Opera House, at Salzburg and at Bavarian State Opera. In 2005/06 Festival, Kušej was appointed Director of Acting at the Salzburg Festival. From 2011 to 2019, Martin Kušej was appointed director of Residenztheater Munich. He also continued to work internationally, at Royal Opera House in London and at Festival d’Aix en Provence. He is the Artistic Director at the Burgtheater in Vienna since the season of 2019/20.
 
Production
As Austria's national theater, the Burgtheater is the country's most important stage for drama and the largest theater in Europe, combining tradition, diversity and progress. After the Comédie-Française, the Vienna Burgtheater is one of the oldest theaters in Europe. Today, the former "k.k. Hoftheater nächst der Burg" with its three associated venues Akademietheater, Kasino and Vestibül and a permanent ensemble is one of the largest theaters in Europe and plays an important role in the German-speaking theater landscape. More than 400,000 visitors a year attend around 800 performances at the Burgtheater, Akademietheater, Kasino and Vestibül. This makes the Burgtheater the best-attended theater in continental Europe.