For our next production, the Southport Dramatic Club is doing something a bit different. We are stepping off the main stage and moving into the bar area to present Yasmina Reza’s brilliant comedy-drama, God of Carnage, performed completely in the round.
If you’ve never seen a show in the round before, it changes everything. With the audience sitting on all sides, just inches from the action, there is nowhere for the actors to hide. It creates an brilliant, intense atmosphere where you feel less like an audience member and more like an uninvited guest in the room.
What’s the story?
The setup is simple. Two pairs of well-meaning, middle-class parents meet up for a civilised chat to sort out a playground fight between their eleven-year-old sons. They intend to be mature, diplomatic, and progressive.
Instead, it turns into an absolute trainwreck.
As the afternoon goes on (and the rum starts flowing), the polite small talk completely disintegrates. What follows is a hilarious, chaotic free-for-all of flying insults, tantrums, and spectacular bad behaviour. It turns out the adults are a lot more childish than the kids they’re trying to parent.
Why you’ll want to see it
It is a fiercely funny, razor-sharp satire on polite society that will make you laugh as much as it makes you squirm.
Because we are staging this intimately in the bar, seating capacity is strictly limited compared to our usual main auditorium runs. If you want to be right in the middle of the chaos, we highly recommend grabbing your tickets early.
