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How quickly time flies! It was only about five years ago when Yasmina Reza’s God Of Carnage (Le Dieu du carnage) premiered at the Melbourne Theatre Company. Along with many other productions, it has also been seen in that time as a Roman Polanski film adaptation and now comes full circle back to Melbourne, albeit on a much smaller and stylish scale.
French playwright/actor/novelist and screenwriter Reza (Art, Life x3), has perhaps established herself as the comedic queen of upper-middle class anxiety. Along with her translator and partner-in-crime British playwright Christopher Hampton, not once have the biting laughs been lost in any of the French-English translations despite the obvious cultural differences.
God of Carnage is no exception and sees Reza at her most brutal – the dark brother to Life x3, minus the time replay. The play concerns two couples whose boys have had an overly brutal school yard brawl. When the two sets of parents meet to discuss the cause of the incident, what starts as civilised soon descends into the kind of lounge room war that even the two boys would say: “grow up!” Reza’s skill of peeling back the layers of well-instilled manners to expose the rotten core of humanity – while making us laugh along the way – has never been more focused and her targets are crystal clear.
The intimacy of Chapel Off Chapel’s The Loft theatre proves the perfect venue for the play, and gifted director Leigh Barker in his debut uses it to every last effect, placing the audience square onto the chaos that we know is going to ensure. But his great strength is leaving the actors to do their thing – with a script this well-paced with every character’s idiosyncrasies clearly defined, they have so much to play with and each moment grows organically out of the last.
Diving in without a hint of hesitation, every single performance is bursting with energy, intelligence and power with the timing of a military tattoo. Barker has guided the comedy with such detailed care that there is never a foot wrong. Brett Whittingham is outstanding as Michael Novak, showing restraint and as much naturalism as he can before his inevitable explosion. Amanda McKay and Allen Laverty are also in top form. An exceptional Anna Burgess, who stunned audiences earlier this year with Goodbye Miss Monroe, again proved her brilliant and precise comic skills as her Annette Raleigh gradually unfurls into a vomiting mess. Every hurl, stumble, slur and confused tip of the head will have even the grumpiest of moods lifted.
On the set design front, Barker and Bryce Dunn go to great pains to set up the epitome of upper-middle class style and sophistication and succeed without a fault. Decorated with furnishings and artwork set up almost to intimidate, suggest that maybe these guys are bordering on OCD in their pursuit of excellence. Michael Brasser’s gorgeous lighting is subtle and effective, with just enough contrast to suggest this has been a long day.
Thankfully not for us. Every reversal and one-liner hits the bull’s eye and the tension ramps up to a fever pitch. Hilarious, energetic and appropriately painful this great production soars showcasing amazing talent and proving Reza to be one of the great social satirists of our time.
UK Financial Times’ Brendan Lemon said of the play, ‘this piece of shallow arrogance,’ adding, ‘I detest the pathetic complicity between this author and her audiences… when I left the theatre, I thought: I’ll never laugh again,’ he obviously saw a very, very different play!
Not to be missed!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
God of Carnage
Directed by Leigh Barker
Produced by Leigh Barker & Bryce Dunn | Next Stop Productions
Lighting by Michael Brasser
The Loft, Chapel Off Chapel
12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran
Until 29 November 2013
