It’s been a while since I have had the sheer graces of attending a Yasmina Reza production. This past May, myself and a few hundred, were able to catch one of the final showings of Alisa Stojanovic’s direction of Reza’s ‘God of Carnage’, at Atelje 212. For those of you who are familiar with Reza’s work – whether it be a production of the now seminal ‘Art’ or the playful ‘Life X 3’ – I need not relate the in-details of the excitement. I should preface all of my further comments by saying that I had always admired Stojanovic’s work in the theatre, as well as the bold choices of Atelje 212’s repertoire politics. Yet, this production does not seem to benefit from either’s thunder.
Once again, Reza’s world pays tribute to the power of the number 4. As in all of her previous works intended for the stage, this text by Reza benefits from its author’s stealth manipulation of all Eurocentric, past and present, with this seemingly pagan symbol of matrilineality. Hence, ‘God of Carnage’ centers around 2 middle class couples – though both parties would love to be counted among the bourgeoisie – trying to find common ground in regards to their adolescent sons’ behavior (there had been a playground brawl prior to the ‘living room’ deal-handling) while interlacing all of their shared insecurities (love vs. respect vs. desire vs. companionship), toppled with lots of lots of liquor (and some not so astute demeanor).
On that note, Darko Nedeljkovic’s set design simply enhances the sterility of these 4 peoples’ empty graces. The blankness of the darkened minimalism of the living room quarters of Mr. and Mrs. Vallon, with a bricked outline of a windowless house in the background, is indeed the most striking play with the power of (any) Judeo-Christian use of the pagan 4 – a void hearth signals a hostile womb but also a reluctant patriarch in a even more reluctant market economy of a post-industrial democracy. All else – the witty banter, the catchy one-liners, the whimsical interludes between partners and unlikely mates, human or otherwise – is cut short. Without the intent or the predisposition of a prophetic remark, this Yasmina Reza play has less of her and more of lukewarm pop-culture traits instead. Perhaps real-life couples do not belong in a production about couples who are drawn to be less character-like and more on the symbolic end. I did, however, appreciate the Svetozar Cvetkovic’s attempt at matrimonial self-play, no matter how misguided at times.
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