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From the Director

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our reprisal of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage.

The truth can be ugly sometimes, or a lot of the time. Yet, much of why theatre is done is the search for truth. When we see, hear and feel it we know it. This experience roots us in a greater sense of our humanity and our need for relationships outside of ourselves.

Yasmina Reza wrote God of Carnage in part due to an experience of a friend. Her son’s friend suffered like Bruno in this play but there was no meeting of the parents to iron things out. Disturbed by this lack of relationship, Reza conjured up this piece of theatre.

Reza has this to say about theatre, “Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society. The greatest playwrights are moralists.” She also aims to write theatre that is accessible. In this play, its accessibility has a lot to do with the raw honesty of these characters. In moments of dismantled pretension and hypocrisy, ugly lines are thrown out with no apology and left to sting the air and the person who received them. These volleys have a cleansing effect on the characters, relieving some of the tension in this Brooklyn apartment.

For the actors there is always the question, am I willing to be this ugly, this naked? Reza’s characters need this commitment and for the actor, there is cleansing involved allowing yourself to be used in this way.

This November, heading toward Thanksgiving, we are grateful at Elements Theatre Company for playwrights who are willing to courageously harrow out the truest expressions of people who need to be known.

Thank you for joining us,