Directed by Lara MacGregor. Starring Phil Vaughn, John Glass, Claire Dougan and Barbara Power. Written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton, (4/5).
Carnage: the killing of a large number of people. Although God of Carnage did not actually present on stage the killing of a large number of people, it is safe to say the god of these forces, if there is such a thing, was at work the night two sets of parents met to discuss a playground incident between their two eleven year old boys.
From the moment I entered the theatre, I knew all my expectations of MacGregor would be met. MacGregor, the new Artistic Director of the Fortune Theatre, set the bar high with her first production and I can’t wait to see more from this very talented theatre practitioner. Similarly, her actors were all fantastic, each character had their definitive quirks and allegiances and all four actors committed themselves emotionally and physically to every second of the 90 minutes they were on stage.
The play having been translated from French, there was a slightly uneasy balance between the French vocabulary in the script and the French pronunciation on the stage, with the actors committing to the French elements in varying degrees - I know I’m being picky but when a show ticks all the boxes it’s hard to find fault!
The set, designed and constructed by Peter King and Matt Best, with its angles, curves and vivid colours, complimented the mood of the piece perfectly.
God of Carnage was stellar and it must be said just how cathartic it is to see four adults (under the influence of alcohol) tear each other to shreds all in the name of civilisation.
God of Carnage
