NO EXIT
by Jean-Paul Sarte
adapted from the French by Paul Bowles
Directed by John DeSotelle
The NuBox @ John DeSotelle Studio
October 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 2026
There is no intermission.
Please refrain from texting and turn off your cell phone, photographic and other electronic devices that can disturb fellow audience members. Filming and photography is strictly prohibited.
Thank you for your cooperation.
No Exit is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French Inc.
Equity Approved Showcase
The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Play Synopsis
THREE STRANGERS. ONE ROOM. NO ESCAPE.
AND ETERNITY AHEAD OF THEM.
A heavy metal door closes. The lock falls into place.
Cradeau enters the room. Then Ines. Then Estelle.
Three strangers. No windows. No escape. And one impossible question:
Why have these three people been brought together—and what are they supposed to do with one another for eternity?
What follows is darkly funny, seductive, unnerving and fiercely human. Attraction becomes manipulation. Conversation becomes confrontation.
And as the walls seem to close in, they begin to understand something far more disturbing:
The room doesn’t have to torture them. They have each other.
Follow Us:
THE DIRECTORS NOTE
Death is something we all experience, but only from one side. We watch people leave us, and we wonder: where do they go? We imagine what, if anything, comes next. Shakespeare called it “the undiscovered country.” Sartre imagines a room.
Three people. A room. A door. And a Boy who brings them in.
What interested me about No Exit was not so much Sartre’s vision of Hell, but the three people trapped inside it. There is no sleep. No privacy. No darkness. Eventually, even their connection to Earth and the lives they left behind begins to disappear. There is nothing to read, nothing to do, nowhere else to go. Nothing remains to distract them from themselves.
Except each other.
Cradeau needs someone to believe he was not a coward. Estelle needs to be desired. Inès wants to be loved, but also possesses an extraordinary ability—and perhaps a need—to see through the others. Each looks to another person for something they cannot provide for themselves. And the very people they need become the source of their torment.
That is what I find both frightening and fascinating about this play. In life, when we are hurt, frightened, bored, or simply uncomfortable with ourselves, we have ways of escaping. We leave the room. We go for a walk. We find something—or someone—to distract us. We tell ourselves that tomorrow will be different.
Sartre takes away tomorrow.
Here, they can still move. They can stand. Sit. Change chairs. Cross the room. Approach the door. But they cannot actually go anywhere. The Boy who brought them into this strange place has gone, leaving behind another unanswered question: Who—or what—was he? Sartre never gives us the comfort of knowing.
And the door remains.
On the other side is everything they have lost: the world, their past, perhaps even the possibility of escape. Perhaps the more uncomfortable question is:
What if one of those chairs were yours?
What would you need from the other people in the room? What might they see in you that you would rather not have seen? What would you see in them? And if, somehow, that door finally opened—
would you leave?
John DeSotelle, Director
Cast
Creative Team
John DeSotelle
Brian McManimon
Judith Feingold
Meet the Company
Elliott Gagne
Elliot is originally from Chicago and recently graduated from the John DeSotelle Studio’s Professional Meisner Program. This is his first full-length play since high school. He is not known for anything...until now.
Karen M. Hoffman*
Karen is a graduate of the conservatory program in Meisner technique here at the Studio. She appeared in Chamber Music and Auto-Da-Fe, both produced by the Nuance Theatre Co. and directed by John DeSotelle. She can be seen, albeit briefly, in an upcoming episode of Law & Order: SVU as Sister Grace, airing in November.
Natalie Streiter
Natalie is excited to be back working with The Nuance Theatre Company! Some favorite roles include Woman with Gavel in Chamber Music, Ella in Curse of the Starving Class, Maud/Lin in Cloud 9, and Reggie Fluty in The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. She earned a BA in Theatre Studies at Guilford College and completed the two-year Professional Meisner Program at The John DeSotelle Studio.
Chanel Karimkhani*
Off-Broadway: Hello Girls, Bach and Bleach (a theatrical concert), The Goree All Girl String Band. Off-off Broadway:Talk To Me Like The Rain And Let Me Listen (Nubox) Chamber Music (Nubox), Sympathy in C. Regional credits include: Sister Act (Arvada Center), Death Takes a Holiday (Arvada Center). International: Things We Will Miss (Edinburgh Fringe, international premiere) There’s Nothing Rougher Than Love – a cabaret (Paris, France - Broadway Au Carré). Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre graduate from University of the Arts and John DeSotelle Studio conservatory Meisner program. Thank you to my beautiful family and friends, my teachers and colleagues…your support means more to me than I could ever say.
John DeSotelle
John DeSotelle is an actor, director, educator, and Executive Director of John DeSotelle Studio and Artistic Director of Nuance Theatre Co. Known for his clarity, depth, and keen understanding of the actor’s process, he has earned a strong reputation for his teaching of the Meisner Technique and his work with actors across stage and screen.
With more than 25 years of experience training actors in New York and as a private acting coach on both coasts, DeSotelle has taught at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, Rutgers University, and the University of the Arts, where he served as Senior Lecturer in the BFA Meisner Studio.
He holds a BA in Acting and Directing from USC and an MFA in Acting from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. Rooted in Meisner and informed by Chekhov, Hagen, Stanislavski, Williamson, and Spolin, his work bridges rigorous actor training and professional theatre. As a director and producer, he has helmed more than 25 Studio Series, Festivals, and Professional Productions in New York City. Directing credits: Tennessee Williams Auto-da-Fe and Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen, Tales of Edgar Alan Poe: The Black Cat and Tell-Tale Heart, Chamber Music, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Rabbit Hole, Proof, Hamlet, Condemned, Awake and Sing!, Waiting for Lefty, Raft of the Medusa, Equus.
He would like to thank his wonderful family, especially his wife, Deborah, for keeping the “train” running!
Brian McManimon
Brian McManimon is a multidisciplinary production designer, director, and educator with 15 years of experience balancing his craft between “the real world” and modern education. He is the Theater Production Specialist at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights, the producer/directing mentor for Packer’s student theater company, and a frequent collaborator with his longtime mentor, Michael Towers, and the award-winning theatre program at Westford Academy Theater Arts. Selected design credits: Bonnie & Clyde, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Regional Premiere - Fall ‘24), Bitch Boxer (North American Premiere), Matilda, Mean Girls, Puffs, Urinetown, Museum, Newsies, Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Spring Awakening. Pace University (B.A.), Central Washington University (M.A.). Special thanks to The DeSotelle Family for this opportunity, DS, AS, ER, MLT, and his endlessly supportive friends and family. bmctheatre.com, IG: @emcee_manimon
Judith Feingold
Judith Feingold is a classically trained Meisner actor, based in New York. She trained at Shakespeare & Company under Dennis Krausnick and Tina Packer, at the Actors' Movement Studio under Loyd Williamson and Janice Orlandi, and at the John DeSotelle Studio, where she now serves as faculty and Studio assistant. She has acted and directed with Nuance Theatre Co. since 2013, debuting in David Auburn's Proof and garnering a nomination in the Innovative Theatre Awards. She received a New England regional Emmy for her work as Jacqueline Brulet in the 2021 feature Not On This Night.
Photos
NUANCE THEATRE COMPANY ...WHO ARE WE?
At a Nuance play, you can expect to see old treasures and modern drama with new eyes...we create in every work a particular, unexpected element of innovation to surprise, delight, illuminate and ignite your mind and heart; creating a world in which the life of the play, in all its subtlety and truth, can emerge.
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Your patronage will keep our door always open for those with a story to tell.
SPECIAL THANKS
The entire Nuance Theatre Co. team
Nuance Theatre Co. has an incredible community of artists within John DeSotelle Studio that consistently give their time, creativity, and just plain old-fashioned hard work. It is a blessing to find such dedicated people and we are exceedingly grateful to each and every one of them.
We would also like to extend our deep appreciation to you, our patrons. Great theatre can be done in small spaces and there is a lot happening on the intimate and independent stages of New York. On behalf of the Nuance Theatre Co. we hope that you will enjoy these exciting performances of an incredible cast and experience the powerful work and evocative atmosphere within this unique and remarkable theatrical venture.
Enjoy the show!
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
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