In the Midst of Carnage

For the most part, Gaslight has been pretty quiet on the God of Carnage front, which could be for any number of reasons. Perhaps we’re taking advantage of the longer rehearsal period. Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s a smaller production. It could very well be that this is just a busy time of year. In any case, I’m here to reassure everyone that God of Carnage is alive and well!

We’ve been rehearsing a couple nights a week for over a month now. The show is completely blocked and we’re in a great position to head into the holiday “break” and the the new year. Yay!

But for how much fun we’ve been having and how smooth rehearsals have gone, I have to say… one acts are still difficult. Some might think that having fewer pages is easier, and maybe in some cases that’s true, but we only have 40 pages and one scene to tell this story. I'm discovering, and I think the actors are as well, that this play needs to not just be blocked, but choreographed. It is a roller coaster from page one and each move dictates the rest of the action. The actors rarely leave the stage and if they do it’s only briefly, the script demands extreme focus of all four characters, and the subject matter, although comedic, is truly thought provoking when you break it down.

We walked out of rehearsal last night trying to answer the question, “Why is this meeting the catalyst for these marriages to implode?” Yes. That is a very good question! Why do these two couples find it so important to essentially one-up each other on their parenting techniques, life choices, and personal beliefs when they should be discussing the small fight that happened between their children? What is the correct way to handle conflict when you consider yourself to be a citizen of Western society? To quote the script, “How many parents standing up for their children become infantile themselves?”

There’s a great deal to still figure out and we have plenty of time ahead. It’s a demanding show both physically and emotionally and the cast has been working so hard to make this real and to make it relevant. I’m thrilled with the process so far and I truly cannot wait to see where we land at the end of January.

Until then!

Brandi George
Director