April 15, 2004
An evening of one-act plays by Jean Paul Sartre and Eugene Ionesco

For its Spring 2004 production, ShimerCollege presents a pair of one-act plays, No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre and The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco. Both of these one-act plays will be performed together on Thursday-Saturday, April 22-24 and April 29-30 and May 1 at 8:00 pm in the Shimer College Gymnasium.

In Sartre’s No Exit, several characters find themselves together, after death, in a drawing room. As we slowly learn the stories of each of the characters, the deceptions of their social selves are exposed, and they come to face their ultimate failure to act. In Ionesco’s The Lesson, a student and a professor are supposed to communicate, but the professor abuses an absurdly logical language to dominate her. In a darkly comic manner, The Lesson explores life’s senseless betrayals, the corruption of power, and the vulnerability of the weak.

Charles Hamm, Shimer Class of 2004, directs Sartre’s No Exit. Hamm recently performed the title role in Shimer’s Fall 2003 production of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Eric Ehmann, Shimer Class of 2004, directs Ionesco’s The Lesson. In addition to his work with the Massachusetts Lyric Opera’s theatre program, Ehmann’s work at Shimer includes performances in Chekov’s The Seagull, Odet’s Awake and Sing, Wilde's Important of Being Ernest, and Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Ehmann was Assistant Director of Waiting for Godot.

General Admission is $5.00, $3.00 for Seniors and Students. Admission is free to members of the Shimer Community.