Sartre's 90-minute play is an intense and occasionally uncomfortable dialogue between three souls damned to suffer each other's company for all eternity. After being led into a sparse room by a mysterious valet (Lianna Holston), the recently deceased Garcin (Nils Reimer), Inez (Jessie See), and Estelle (Lydie Sheehan) are left together to experience Sartre's oft-quoted maxim that 'hell is other people'.

Director Zoë Firth has chosen to stage her production in the round, which, in the confines of the Burton Taylor Studio, serves to increase the feeling of claustrophobia. The sense of oppression is heightened further by the fact that the air-conditioning was turned off at the beginning of the show – whether through artistic decision or simple practicality – leading the audience to sympathise when Garcin remarks, 'How hot it is here'. As per Sartre's notes, the setting is simple, with just three period sofas and a small table. Lighting and sound effects are kept to a minimum, maintaining the focus on the three protagonists.

The performances from the student cast are generally good, particularly Lydie Sheehan's petulent Estelle – a grotesque combination of spoilt child and shameless flirt – although the three leads do occasionally lack the intensity that the play demands. Some of the physical interaction between the characters – Garcin's embraces with Estelle or his attack on Inez, for example – was also a little unconvincing at times. Director Firth and her cast do, however, make good use of the limited space and set – essential in a play with audience on three sides. Credit also goes to Lianna Holston's impudent valet for some nice comic touches in what could have been a rather dry role.

All in all, this was a high-quality production by a young cast, and deserved the full house that watched the opening night. Sartre's existentialist meditation on human interaction and self-reflection is not always an easy play to watch, but this version by Jackson Productions certainly repays the effort.