Huis Clos and Other Plays (Penguin Books)

These three plays, diverse in subject but thematically coherent, illuminate one of Sartre's major philosophical concerns: the struggle to live and act freely in a complex and constricting world. "Lucifer and the Lord", Sartre's favourite among his plays, explores this theme in depth, dealing in the process with fundamental questions of faith and disillusionment; in "Huis Clos" - arguably Sartre's most important play - he contends that 'Hell is other people', and details the afterlife of three souls trapped together in locked room and the torments that they inflict on each other; while "The Respectable Prostitute", set in the Deep South of America, is concerned with racism, subjugation and the demands of conscience.