“...Nicholai La Barrie’s production, while well done with what he has to work with and capably performed, doesn’t make a convincing case for why this play, which is far from a great piece of writing, should be revived.”
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" ‘God of Carnage’ has had its day as a global phenomenon. But it’s still worth a revival, and it’s hard to imagine that Reza’s nihilistic but – let’s be honest – bang-on observations on human selfishness will ever lose their relevance."
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“There is a certain deliciousness in seeing these characters unravel as they hit the gin and shoot their pseudo-polite salvoes. The play’s punches do not land as hard as they might, although there is a clear sense that these self-centred characters have all but lost sight of little Ferdinand and Bruno.”
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“A surprisingly strained night, then, which confirms there’s no easy path to box-office salvation: no matter how tried and tested the fare, there’s no such thing as a safe-bet.”
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“The comedy is both flattened and over-signalled. The desire to shock – including one word used savagely and out of the blue – has no justification in anything that has been built before. The most interesting thing on stage is the way that Richard Howell’s string of lights fall gently to the floor, surrounding Lily Arnold’s revolving stage, turning it into an arena. But within that circle of human conflict, both play and production fail to reveal anything much.”
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“Director Nicholai La Barrie establishes a heightened, farcical tone, keeping his cast fussing about in attitudes of strutting overconfidence or twitchy anxiety.”
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“...director Nicholai La Barrie’s approach plays things pretty straight. The biggest choice here is the acting style: it’s big and oh-so-mannered, something that works in the later slapstick scenes but just feels a bit painful in the early moments.”
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this God of Carnage is somewhat saved by strong direction, and whether it’s supposed to be a comedy or not, it certainly does have some very funny scenes. Yasmina Reza’s themes shine through and despite the issues with the characters we can probably all recognise them, this is ultimately an enjoyable revival with a talented cast.
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