By Renee Kirk
God Of Carnage at the Maidment Theatre - running till August 15
As a child I had a signed photograph of Miranda Harcourt and it was one of my prized possessions. I thought she was the epitome of cool in Gloss and just an altogether amazing actress. I had also decided that when I grew up I was going to be an actress, just as amazing as Miranda Harcourt, probably even in shows with her.
I haven’t actually managed to be in any shows with Miranda, or even see her in anything for a number of years so I was particularly looking forward to attending Auckland Theatre Company’s production of The God of Carnage and seeing if she was all that I remembered.
Award-winning French playwright Yasmina Reza's comedy of manners – without the manners - gave the four-strong cast a lot to work with. Alongside Harcourt, playing Veronique Vallon was Dave Fane as Michel Vallon, Peter Elliot as Alain Reille and Hera Dunleavy as Annette Reille.
This satire was sharp, in all aspects.
The play opens with an odd meeting of two sets of parents discussing the playground antics and subsequent missing teeth of Michele and Veronique’s son, Bruno. It is Ferdinand’s fault and perhaps Alain and Annette’s lack of correct parenting.
It starts as a polite conversation with a few strained pauses and forced smiles. The exchange of ideas quickly becomes more and more heated and the antagonism increases.
Issues arise; cause and effect, admitting responsibility, being suitably sorry and appropriate parental care and discipline.
Not just the children’s though. Alain’s constant phone interruptions give us an insight into his unwillingness to accept blame and responsibility. Annette becomes ill and vomits all over Veronique’s precious books. Michele turns to the whiskey and Veronique starts to descend into melodramatics as the situation spins wildly out of her control.
What started as a debate surrounding children’s behavior turns into a deliciously funny stand-off bringing into question the adults’ behavior and social codes.
As each turn against the other an alcohol-fueled madness ensues and the barbs and insults fly thick and fast.
This creates plenty of laughs for the audience, each of the characters defects is high-lighted in stark clarity and their reactions to each other become increasingly insane. There are plenty of well-written lines and clever rhetoric.
The script is sharp and so are the actors. There is a thoroughly adept display of talent from each of them.
Harcourt has the flexibility in both movement and characterization of a woman who swings from tears to triumph within a heartbeat. Fane instigates his own share of mayhem with a more laid back character and a certain disdain towards his wife, her tears and the tantrums. Dunleavy’s character goes from being a submissive peace-keeper to staggering drunkenly over the stage with complete disregard for what comes out of her mouth. And Eliott has the direct and straight-up businessman down to a tea. He is perhaps the most honest of them all, yet maybe the most flawed because of it.
In the final moments of the play we find Anette on the floor on her hands and knees, crying, screeching and physically tearing apart the tulips.
Is this physical act of violence and loss of control so much worse than hers sons?
As the play closes with a phone call from one of the children we are left considering whether any of these adults have behaved better than the children.
The violence displayed by the son is perhaps more honest and less permanently damaging than the meeting the adults have had to discuss that very thing. The play leaves us with a smile on our face and muscles weary from laughing.
It is also quite thought-provoking and this is where Reza’s shrewd insight into human behavior shines so brightly. There appears to be only a thin layer or two between what is shown to the world and what a person is beneath that. And getting a fly-on-the-wall look at it all is highly amusing… after all, the rest of us would never behave like that would we!
This is an intelligent play. It is hard to find the right words and eloquence required to do it justice… and I wouldn’t even attempt to match the clever wit and sarcastic social commentary. But I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to see some great theatre, have a good laugh and maybe something to ponder. However, it is written in such a way that you can take it on whatever level your conscience will let you.
Needless to say, I was definitely not disappointed by Miranda, she was even better then I remembered her as a child. And maybe it’s not such a bad thing I haven’t been in any shows with her yet, maybe all that says is I’m not a grown up yet? After seeing how badly they can behave I don’t think that’s such a bad thing at all.