Theatre Preview
Eleanor Pearson 15 July 2016 Sacrebleu! Our Boys have Blued!Two eleven-year-old boys scuffle in the playground. Their parents agree to meet to discuss the matter. But as the evening meeting wears on, alliances shift, couples bicker, and the parents are reduced to behaving like children themselves.
Pymble Players’ director Dave Went described God of Carnage as a “situation comedy about first world problems”. “It’s a very modern situation about two sets of helicopter parents with different social views clashing,” he explained.
Went said the play revealed something about how people tend to overreact when dealing with issues involving their own children. “It kind of draws off the same idea as The Slap (by Australian novelist Christos Tsiolkas) about how a small incident can have considerable consequences.” Originally in French, by playwright Yasmina Reza, God of Carnage (Le Dieu du carnage) premiered in 2006. Since then it has been translated into English, and performed to critical acclaim in both London and New York. “It’s been translated in such a way that it has a French sensibility. The speech pattern has a French feel.” Went said. Went anticipates Pymble Players’ audiences will have a good laugh, but also feel a twinge of recognition. There will also be scenes that will take the audience by surprise. “Yasmina Reza writes beautifully. She deals with the human situation with great humour, but also makes human insights.” Went said. “God of Carnage will make audiences think. A lot of people will go “Aaah…” A lot will identify, but they will be slightly removed so they can laugh.” |
God of Carnage
Season Starting: Wednesday, 20th of July (click on "Upcoming Events" for exact times.) Address: Corner of Mona Vale Road & Bromley Avenue, Pymble NSW 2073 |
Went said the greatest challenge of the production so far had been extracting the humour from every possible opportunity within the script.
“Finding the comedy is not easy. If you’re not careful there will be four nasty people on stage, and audiences will be left cold… But this is how people can behave. You can forgive them if they are genuinely funny. It’s like Basil Fawlty when he says the things we’d love to say ourselves.”
Went said he’d been lucky with his ensemble cast.
“It’s not a long play either. In the end it was impossible to put an intermission in because of the nature of the show.”
God of Carnage is Berowra resident Went’s first production with the Pymble Players. Since leaving the British Army in 1993, Went has performed in more than 60 theatrical productions, and directed eight shows. By day, Went works in the public service for the NSW Ombudsman.
God of Carnage plays July 20-August 13, 2016
“Finding the comedy is not easy. If you’re not careful there will be four nasty people on stage, and audiences will be left cold… But this is how people can behave. You can forgive them if they are genuinely funny. It’s like Basil Fawlty when he says the things we’d love to say ourselves.”
Went said he’d been lucky with his ensemble cast.
“It’s not a long play either. In the end it was impossible to put an intermission in because of the nature of the show.”
God of Carnage is Berowra resident Went’s first production with the Pymble Players. Since leaving the British Army in 1993, Went has performed in more than 60 theatrical productions, and directed eight shows. By day, Went works in the public service for the NSW Ombudsman.
God of Carnage plays July 20-August 13, 2016
Performers and Crew
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Dave Went
Warren Blood Sally Drummond Reg Lunn, Dave Went Reg Lunn, Babs Went, Peter Morris, Charles Williams, Dave Went Geoff Jones Graham Boswell Graham Boswell, Melanie Brooker Jan McLachlan Rehearsal Prompt Julie Griffith Des Harris Jill Klopfer |