Jean-Paul Sartre - Huis-clos
BBC Third Programme
Broadcast: Tuesday 8th October 1946
"Huis-clos" is a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity, and is the source of Sartre's most famous quotation, "l'enfer, c'est les autres ("Hell is other people").
The play begins with an Attendant leading a man named Joseph Garcin into a room that the audience soon realises is in hell (hell is described as a series of "rooms and passages"). The room has no windows, no mirrors, and only one door. Eventually Garcin is joined by Inès Serrano, and then another woman, Estelle Rigault. After their entry, the Attendant leaves and the door is closed and locked. All expect to be tortured, but no torturer arrives. Instead, they are left to probe each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories, gradually realizing that this is their punishment: they are each other's torturers.
Translated by Marjorie Gabain and Joan Swinstead from Jean-Paul Sartre's play, "Huis-clos", first produced in Paris at Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May, 1944. This English translation was first produced as "Vicious Circle" in London at the Arts Theatre Club in 1946 starring the cast in this radio play.
With Alec Guinness [Joseph Garcin], Beatrix Lehmann [Inès Serrano], Betty Ann Davies [Estelle Rigault], and Donald Pleasence [The Attendant].
Directed by Mary Hope Allen
Re-broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1980 after the death of Sartre.
60 min.
Huis-Clos.mp3 (128 kbps)
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