Other reviews summarize the plot, so I need not do that. The author nails the psychology of the characters and reflects those qualities in the story. Those echoes show up not just in each character's actions but in the whole dynamic of the story. Precisely what I value in a play. The reviews of live performances seem to cast this as a comedy which strikes me as odd; if it is funny, it is because the characters are so true in their vitriol, not because it is amusing. My only issue with this play is the abrupt ending; I do not understand how it serves the story and the only rationales seem false. As a play I think this is constructed really well. There's really only one thing I don't understand its dramatic function (when Annette vomits) and even then I half suspect that I do understand its purpose--to get Annette and Alain out of the room so that Michel and Veronique can talk about them behind their backs. But other than that, the play swirls around a set of recurring themes and ideas, all of which are deployed in really interesting ways as these characters try to tear one another down.It occurs to me as I'm writing this review that The God of Carnage bears a striking resemblance to Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Both plays feature two married couples in a domestic setting, both couples have squabbles (both with the other couples and with their spouses) that become increasingly bitter and violent as the play goes on, and both are driven (in very different ways) by children the audience never sees. It might be interesting to teach these two plays side by side.
What do You think about Un Dios Salvaje (2000)?
... Esilarante.....Feroce.....Grande specchio della società in cui viviamo
—tinamarie
