A quartet of parents engage in living room warfare during Kaua‘i Community Players’ production of the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage.” Director Laurel Petterson-McGraw spent three years securing the rights to the play after seeing it on Broadway, and
A quartet of parents engage in living room warfare during Kaua‘i Community Players’ production of the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage.”
Director Laurel Petterson-McGraw spent three years securing the rights to the play after seeing it on Broadway, and her persistence paid off.
“God of Carnage” plays at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays plus 4 p.m. Sundays.
The play was written by Yasmena Reza and translated from French into English by Christopher Hampton and has been hailed as “elegant, acerbic and entertainingly fueled on pure bile” by Variety and a “streamlined anatomy of the human animal … delivers the cathartic release of watching other people’s marriages go ‘boom.’ A study in the tension between civilized surface and savage instinct, this play is itself a satisfyingly primitive entertainment” by the New York Times.
The play takes place in an everyday living room where a playground altercation between two 11-year-old boys brings two sets of Brooklyn parents together to resolve the matter.
Jennifer Downs, Morgan Liddell, Cher Ellwood and Dennis McGraw portray the not very grown up grown-ups.
Diplomatic niceties go at the window as the meeting progresses. The rum flows, tensions emerge and gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $22 at the door. Tickets for opening weekend are discounted by $5 and there are discounts for KCP members (join at the Kaua‘i Community Players’ website ), seniors and students.
The final dress rehearsal is a “pay what you can” preview on Thursday, May 3. Tickets are available through www.kauaicommunityplayers.org or by calling 800-838-3006.
There will be a reception with the cast and director after the opening night performance. Refreshments will be served.
