sartre
no exit, no arrival
"No Exit, No Arrival"
A Beckettian fragment in two voices
Characters:
-
Camus (on the platform, holding a ticket)
-
Sartre (inside a carriage, visible through the window)
-
Silence (offstage, but present)
(Dim light. A platform. A train stands still, doors closed.
Camus paces, ticket in hand. Sartre sits in the carriage,
staring outward. Neither moves closer.)
Camus: The train has left.
(looks at ticket)
But it has not moved.
Sartre: (through the window)
Hell is other people.
Especially when they sit too close.
Camus: I am alone.
That is worse.
Or better.
Or neither.
Sartre: There is no exit.
Only compartments.
And coughs.
Camus: I missed my ride.
Perhaps that was the ride.
Perhaps this is the punishment.
Sartre: Punishment?
No.
Merely company.
Which is worse.
(Silence enters. Both men look at it.
Silence says nothing. They nod.)
Camus: One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Sartre: One must imagine the carriage full.
Forever.
(The train whistle blows. Nothing moves.
Lights dim. Curtain does not fall.)
.
.
.
