Yasmina Reza’s (translated by Christopher Hampton) unassuming but vicious satirical unmasking of the modern-day middle class, God Of Carnage, has stirred up attention since it first premiered in 2008. Boasting as a hit on Broadway and The West End, its anticipated revival has been met with great expectation. In this new version directed by Nicholas La Barrie, the question I was left asking, however, is why this play now?
God Of Carnage introduces us to two middle-class, pre-middle-aged couples who are brought together by the act of violence between their two eleven-year-old children Ferdinand and Bruno (whom we never meet). What begins as a ‘civil’ interaction and desire to de-escalate the incident between their boys, quickly unleashes a swirling passive-aggressive dance between the four parents fulled by entitlement, misguided values and unrealistic expectations.
Victoria (Freema Agyeman) a smug, melodramatic do-gooder, and her husband Michale (Martin Huston) a seemingly passive man with hidden toxic anger see their son as the sole victim of the incident. Annette (Dinita Gohil) who shows moments of self-serving morality and her husband Alen (Ariyon Baker) an overbearing lawyer and misogynist, attempt to be reasonable but quickly find flaws in the other couple's cries of innocence. Ultimately they are all incredibly unlikeable. The elephant in the room could be seen that we all know these people, could be or are them and are therefore as relevant as when Reza originally wrote the play, but, is it a story we need to keep telling? There is nothing new about highlighting this depressing trope of modern bourgeoise privilege who dictate their view of the world onto everyone else. Furthermore, there needs to be more scope in the story for the audience to connect with its themes of hubris and morality beyond the context it presents us with.There is a complex and sophisticated use of language and structure in the writing that has spiteful shots being fired from one character to another, couples against couples with brief and shifting alliances between them but the tone is generally unclear and the rhythm does not feel settled. Performances border on the ridiculous, almost bouffanesque at times and the absurdity of this is entertaining but ultimately the work struggles to truly know what it wants to be.
Sound Design and composition from Asaf Zohar that highlights moments of tension and profound monologues from the characters is a welcome element and the set design from Lily Arnold, a slowly rotating modern, minimalist living room of different shades of white, is a perfect setting to watch the chaos explode.Running at a slick 90 minutes with no interval, it is well worth visiting the Lyric Hammersmith for and is a light touch look into a world we are very used to, and enjoy, laughing at.
Running from September 1-30 at The Lyric Hammersmith.
Review by Stephanie Osztreicher
Rating: ★★★
Seat: Stalls R 21 Price: £10 - £44
