Review - God of Carnage, Melbourne Theatre Company

What happens when eleven year old Ferdinand whacks his playmate Bruno with a stick in a neighbourhood park and knocks his front two teeth out? Is it just pure innocence and part of kids growing up or simply a case of backyard bullying? It is important for parents to set the right example for their kids. Do we see ourselves through the eyes of our children and want the next generation to be a breed of our missing childhood, for better or worse? Morality and virtues are just an interpretation of our self-belief and if a sanctimonious existence means singing the Ave Maria before we make love, then we have truly fallen from grace. If civilisation means eating with a spoon and fork or hiding our modesty why would mankind act as though the basis of society is violence? Insights into these questions can be got from God Of Carnage.

Not all foreign language literary works have the same impact when translated into English but Christopher Hampton does an excellent job of the well established Yasmina Reza masterpiece. Directed by Peter Evans and sporting a cast which includes Hugo Weaving, Natasha Herbert, Geoff Morrell and Pamela Rabe it is an eighty minute journey down a path of adults simply behaving badly.

There is funny and then there's hilarious. God Of Carnage bares it all and the gags keep flowing. Just when you thought it was . . . . . .

Loved it, loved it loved it. A must see in my book