Huis Clos

TNT

The Donmar’s second season showcasing the work of its Resident Assistant Directors concludes with Paul Hart’s intentionally claustrophobic, in-the-round revival of John Paul Sartre’s existential depiction of hell, written during the Second World War.

Ushered into the stifling atmosphere of a dilapidated and windowless Second Empire drawing room where sleep is impossible, the three main protagonists (all recently deceased) are forced to face up to the uncomfortable truths about the behaviour which has brought them here – not by the conventional instruments of torture they anticipate but by their relentless (and occasionally repetitive) probing of each other’s past actions.

Will Keen’s edgy pacifist journalist, Michelle Fairley’s gruff lesbian postal clerk and Fiona Glascott’s flirtatious socialite reluctantly reveal their secrets, ultimately becoming their own gaolers in this hell of other people from which there is no way out.

Trafalgar Studios (2), Whitehall, SW1A 2DY (0844 871 7632)Tube: Charing CrossUntil January 28 (£17.50-£22) donmarwarehouse.com