Penn State’s No Refund Theatre promotes ‘awareness of people’ with ‘Quick Exit’

Penn State’s No Refund Theatre will return to the stage at 111 Forum from Feb. 2-4 for its new production, “Quick Exit,” directed by Armand Zeibari.

Taking place in an apartment, the two-act dark comedy, written by Chris Herron, features a group of four unnamed characters who decide to gather and take their own lives together.

Artistically, Zeibari said he found his vision when he discovered “Quick Exit.”

“Finding this play was very difficult. I was told to find a play that [I] knew was ‘the one.’ Reading what it was about, I realized it was [a] very dark comedy,” Zeibari (senior-astrophysics) said.

Zeibari said he has acted in dark comedies before, and that the “character-heavy” nature of “Quick Exit” was “exactly what [he] wanted out of a production.”

“It covers the topics I wanted to cover and still retains comedy, so it really resonated with me,” he said.

Zeibari wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Mariam Fostok, who played “Three,” said acting in her role made her feel “more herself.”

“It feels very important to have the role I had,” Fostok (senior-general science) said. “When I saw that I got [the role of] Three specifically, it felt big and made me very happy.”

Fostok also commented how the show developed for her and her acting experience.

“This whole process has been amazing,” she said. “Figuring out how to be moody and balance it with adding humor and joy to the show was tricky, but at the same time, it all felt very natural.”

Jason Scansaroli played “One,” who he said “works in finance.”

Like Fostok, Scansaroli said he “found himself in his character,” and that he was proud of Zeibari’s efforts.

“Getting to see [Zeibari] go from auditioning to full-on directing was something I thought was really cool,” Scansaroli (senior-music) said.

Scansaroli said “Quick Exit” is his third show with NRT. He noted that the show “stuck out” to him at the time of auditions more so than other plays.

“It had that dark comedy, but also very genuine sincereness that I enjoy in a lot of media,” he said. “It fit exactly as I thought it would.”

Alongside all of the actors, Zeibari said he wanted people to better understand how others “go through a lot and experience a lot in their lives.”

“I think the biggest takeaway that I want people to understand is that everyone is different, has their reasons to live and lives different lives.” Zeibari said. “Throughout the whole show, you realize that these are full-fledged people with different backgrounds. I wanted to bring awareness to such a horrible topic of suicide. We all live differently, and I feel we need to consider it more.”