“God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza

At the back of the stage in York Drama Society’s production of God of Carnage is a chest, upon which sits a chic hourglass, full of red sand and slowly ticking away time throughout the course of the play. In Rory McGregor’s production, it demonstrates the inevitability of the final dénouement, but while the sand falls into the bottom chamber consistently, the performances on show feel far less subtle, managing to land a handful of jokes, but ultimately making the play into a cartoon rather than a satire on modern middle-class life.

Having now seen four productions of this play over the course of as many years, I can comfortably say that the comedy in Reza’s play does not benefit from multiple viewings.

“Richard II” by William Shakespeare

at Shakespeare’s Globe, Friday 4th May 2012

Ashtar Theatre’s production of Richard II opens with the brutal murder of Gloucester, who loiters on stage for a moment as the play begins, haunting the memories of his killers. Throughout the entire play, whenever a murder occurs, the dead are left hanging around, as if taking back stolen time, and under Conall Morrison’s direction, the play serves as a clear mirror for modern-world dictatorships and means of resisting them.

The overall aesthetic is clearly contemporary military, and Richard rules his state with a firm hand. Sami Metwasi’s effeminate king is vein, fallible and petty, only listening to those who tell him what he wants to hear. After an Arab Spring-style resistance, which has bought in the seemingly more sensible Bolingbroke (Nicola Zreineh) it becomes clear he will not offer a kinder way of ruling. The powerful will always oppress is the implication.

The discussion of land and oppression in this play become particularly apparent in the hands of the Palestinian company. Richard’s determination to annex lands which don’t rightfully belong to him seem extraordinarily pertinent, and Bolingbroke’s capitulation that he is to make his own journey to the Holy Land is wonderfully current. Brilliantly, however, the tone of this production comes across optimistically; in the end, it seems to say, the people will always have their way.

Backgrounding the astonishing work of Metwasi is a strong company of actors, who work with intense levels of passion. Aside from Zreineh’s cold, cunning Bolingbroke, there are also good performances from George Ibrahim as a selfless but misguided York and Hussein Nakhleh’s quite underhand Gaunt. Bayan Shbib’s Queen gives an emotional portrayal of how those left and home are effected.

With music by Trio Jubran giving a driving force to proceedings, Ashtar’s company have an extraordinary energy throughout, pushing forward into what promises to be a better future. This isn’t a production directly about Palestine and its situation, but is an offering to all those who have had or are currently having their freedoms rebuked by petty and squabbling politicians, exhibiting a hope that one day no-one will have to endure life without their liberty.

“Line” by Israel Horovitz

at the National Student Drama Festival, Sunday 10th April 2011

We are constantly told that society is a dog-eat-dog world in which we have to do all we can to get to the top. We must deceive, manipulate and destroy to achieve our goals under capitalism and it brings out the worst in all of us. Israel Horovitz’ Line, presented by Unwish Theatre, attempts to explore some deep existential themes, but under the direction of Jonathan Carr ends up being little more than wildly irritating.

Five people wait in a line. À la Beckett, for what or for who we are never told, but they are all determined to get to the front nonetheless. Their personal struggles form the narrative drive of the play, but in between these moments of drama Horovitz tries to develop the characters through use of a side-line narrative which concerns the four men’s relationship with the only woman in the line. These monologues and conversations take away from rather than add to the main thrust of the text, and serve only to make us feel bored.

Line is the sort of play that could get its message across in twenty minutes, and indeed by this point we feel like we’ve seen everything anyway. Some aspects of the staging, including the use of dance as a replacement for lovemaking and an almost hideously dramatic conclusion, feel to jar with the tone of the rest of the play, although as the line disintegrates into chaos we are given a snippet of this company at its best.

The performances are all solid, though none stand out. Ryan Lane as Arnall is confused and weak, and is shown in contrast to Louis Lunts’ cocksure Dolan. As the only female in the ensemble, Molly, Veronica Hare carries much of the narrative force, but doesn’t show sufficient justification for being unfaithful to Arnall. Dan Wood’s Flemming is perhaps the clearest character, showing someone who means well with a thoughtful performance. Chris White’s Stephen, who speaks the most lines in the play, shows a neurotic and Machiavellian teen, but seems too considered; too much effort is given to ‘performance’ and not enough to motivation.

Unwish Theatre cope well carrying the energy through a play which feels far too long, but don’t inject enough emotion into the intervening moments to capture the audience’s attention. It is difficult to care when, for the most part, each and every character is the sort of person we would walk away from a conversation with. This is ostensibly a comment from Horovitz on the nature of capitalism, and while I wouldn’t disagree with the sentiment, Line is never more than an overdeveloped play based on a good initial idea.