“Isaac Asimov once said, “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent”—but do violent tendencies lurk in all of us, competent or not? That’s one of the questions raised in Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage, now onstage at Desert Ensemble Theatre.
The plot is simple: Two couples meet to talk over what to do after a physical altercation between their two sons on the playground. Benjamin struck Henry with a stick, knocking out two of his teeth, after Henry called Benjamin names and refused to allow him to join his group.
Henry’s parents, Veronica (Lizzie Schmelling) and Michael Novak (John Corr), have invited Benjamin’s parents, Annette (Yo Younger) and Alan Raleigh (David Youse), to their home for this discussion. Everyone is civil and polite in the beginning—but it doesn’t take long for the gloves to come off, and for the insults to fly…”
[Read the full review at cvindependent.com]