'God of Carnage' wreaks havoc at Wells-Metz

A paralyzed hamster. Fifteen-year-old aged rum. Projectile vomit.

Each of these are essential ingredients to the scenes played out in a living room
in Paris.

The IU Department of Theater and Drama’s latest production, “The God of Carnage,” premiered this weekend at the Wells-Metz Theatre.

The house was packed Friday night, ready to see how the four-person play would please.

The plot of “The God of Carnage” surrounds events that occur after one boy hits another on the playground with a stick, knocking his two front teeth out.

Two sets of parents, Alain and Annette and Michel and Veronique, try to solve their sons’ differences and end up running into some differences of their own along the way.

Bloomington resident Joe Pauli appreciated the play for this reason.

“It was funny, the awkwardness they had,” Pauli said. “It was interesting, too, that the alliances switched, like who was siding with who.”

Despite their best attempts, the four individuals hit continual bumps along their road to resolution.

These obstacles were signaled by the ding of a bell, summoning another round of debate to ensue like a boxing match.

The arguments were not all hostile, however, and were often delivered with tones of comedy. The audience answered these deliveries with roars of laughter at several points.

Freshman Laurin Katzmarek attended the play as an assignment for a class but ended up enjoying the comedic quality of the performance.

“I heard from one of my friends that this was a really funny production, so I was really excited to come,” Katzmarek said. “Annette was my favorite character. It was interesting to see her completely break down at the end of it all.”

Throughout the course of the play, the once neat and tidy set transformed into something much less well-kept.

Two arm chairs, a coffee table, shelves and a cocktail bar were each in a precise place at the outset, but soon tulips were strewn around the space, pillows thrown and books flung.

These domestic aesthetics were of particular interest to Andrea Ball, a first-year graduate student in scenic design.

“My friends were the set designers, and the sets looked great,” she said.

The messy torpor that unfolds throughout the brief play invited a small peek into the world of parenting and partnership between the two couples.

“They’re arguing about what happened with their children being so childish, and in the process they’re becoming children themselves,” Ball said.

Showtimes this week

7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday

2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Performances will be at the Wells-Metz Theatre.