Steve Shinkfield stars as Alain in the play God of Carnage. 82886 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By VANESSA CHIRCOP
WILLIAMSTOWN Little Theatre’s latest production, ‘God of Carnage’, is opening this Thursday with Bruce Akers making his Williamstown directorial debut.
Despite having directed nine amateur theatre productions, this is his first time directing for Williamstown Little Theatre.
“I’ve worked with them a few times before but this is more first directing gig.”
Mr Akers said he was thrilled to nab ‘God of Carnage’ which was written by French playwright Yasmina Reza.
“It’s quite a brilliant piece of theatre,” he said.
“This woman is quite an astounding playwright.”
The play, which was originally titled ‘Le Dieu du carnage’, is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hit the other with a stick, they attempt to meet amicably to discuss logically how to deal with their boys.
However, as the evening goes on, pressure builds, attitudes change, allegiances shift and the thin veneer of civility disappears with the evening dissolving into carnage.
Mr Akers said said Yasmina Reza has a brilliant knack for making something ordinary turn into a chaotic moment.
“She has a very strange way of looking at the world.”
“You need to stretch your believability a little bit but it is still quite believable – the cast is so experienced and good at what they’re doing,” he said.
“It’s very funny and there’s a lot of physical comedy.”
The play runs in real time for 90 minutes, with no interval and opens this Thursday 28 June and runs until 14 July.
For more information visit www.wlt.org.au or 9885 9678.
Williamstown Little Theatre is a community theatre, run entirely by volunteers for more than 65 years. This is the group’s third production for the 2012 season.
