God of Carnage
Bench Theatre
The Spring, Havant
Two sets of parents meet to discuss a playground altercation between their 11-year-old sons. Early cordiality gradually evaporates and, fuelled by alcohol, the increasingly strained atmosphere escalates into verbal open warfare, with unlikely allegiances formed and shattered as battle-lines are drawn. Julie Wood and Dan Finch play Veronique and Michel Vallon, parents of Bruno, the injured boy, entertaining culprit Ferdinand’s parents Annette and Alain Reille, played by Megan Green and David Penrose. All four performed very well indeed, the women in particular running the whole gamut of emotions (and back again) as the initially civilised evening descended into farce. The set was well lit with an impressive array of props and the projectile vomit scene in particular deserves mention. Director Pete Woodward’s production contained all the ingredients to make Yasmina Reza’s well-known play a success, but raised only occasional chuckles rather than belly-laughs from many within the disappointingly sparse audience.
Alan Johns
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here