God of Carnage @ Theatre Royal Glasgow

This revival of French playwright Yasmina Reza’s dark satire highlights the slapstick over the savagery.

The Novaks, parents of 11-year old Henry who has had two teeth knocked out by his playmate, meet up for truth and reconciliation with the perpetrator’s parents. However, in Christopher Hampton’s translation of the play, set in middle-class north London, the truths that come out reveal much more about the duplicitous, hypocritical natures of the parents than of their children.

The cast includes Elizabeth McGowan (Downton Abbey), who although the top-billed star, plays her character for laughs more than realism. There are moments when it seems she should be stage whispering to Nigel Leslie, playing her husband, yet she is shouting.

Indeed, there is a lot of shouting, and due to the play’s continuous rise and falls in and out of conflict, it becomes somewhat exhausting to watch. Towards the end I was left wondering: why don’t Freddie’s parents just leave this awful house? Why don’t the Novaks kick them out? Why is this still happening? At just under 1.5 hours running time however, I did not have to wonder this for too long.

The performance emphasises the comedy over the darkness of the piece, with violent moments becoming slapstick humour, such as McGowan attempting to attack her husband, and Samantha Spiro throwing a mobile phone in a vase of water. With this lightness, it is an amusing rather than savage take down of middle class well-meaning posturing, enjoyable enough, albeit in a well-worn parlour room format.