Gods of Carnage Response (#3)

Colby Sedlier

Professor Julian Zabalbeascoa

F.Y.S.H Sec 303

29 September 2013

                                  

Gods of Carnage Response #3

         The most common opinions from a teenager after attending a play or theater styled performance consist of “Eh, it was okay”, “I fell asleep”, or “That was so boring.” I originally dreaded being told that I had to see a play and expected my post-reaction to be a similar response to that of a typical teenager. I had read about several plays in high school, mostly Shakespeare’s, and could not imagine having to sit through one. However, after an interesting journey through downtown Lowell, my expectations were obliterated to say the least. The title “Gods of Carnage” produced the image of Ancient Rome or Greece with soldiers being sent on a mission to destroy the Greek and Roman Gods of the world. 

I was awaiting the hour long dry script of old mythology to ring among the theater but was presently surprised when I saw the actual set. Instead of an old village or battle ground, a modern-day, well-furnished living room spread the stage. My hopes of being able to stay awake brightened despite the set remaining the same throughout the performance. As I took my seat, the play commenced and my eyes couldn’t seem to leave the stage for the 

entire hour and fifteen minutes while becoming more and more intrigued with the theater’s atmosphere.

The conflict expressed the struggle between two families and expressed it spectacularly. Not only did the actors sell their roles, they engaged the audience through laughter. The performance portrayed real-world problems such as double-standards between men and women and did so humorously. As a student, I did not expect to be laughing constantly throughout such a performance. There was an array of punch lines to keep the audience’s attention as well as mine. I found myself chuckling throughout most of the play at scenes such as when the lawyer’s phone was stolen and placed into the water-filled vase or when Benjamin’s mother becomes heavily intoxicated and begins to express her true opinions. It was the scenes like these that kept my attention and averted my original view on the play to see the positivity the performance had to offer. It was because of the actors that I kept my eyes open and did not walk out of the theater saying that it was “boring” or that “I fell asleep.” I thoroughly enjoyed being able to witness a down-scale Broadway performance however, it seems like it could have been. To be quite blunt, I am ashamed of myself for not giving plays or other theatrical performances a chance before this one.

            On my way back from the theater while walking to my dorm building, I began to think about the performance well knowing that I would have to collect my thoughts down on a paper eventually needing to be passed in and graded. My mind raced from beginning to end about what stood out to me and what seemed the most important. Although it was not the main idea of the play, but the one portion that stood out to me the most occurred towards the end of the performance when the parents of Henry begin to physically tussle. The idea of a double-standard between men and women emerged in my mind while watching the action. Back in the day, as some elders may say, men used to control women beyond their rights. Men used to be able to hit women without any penalty or even “use” them for various actions. In today’s society, these actions are obviously frowned upon and are punishable by law. A male may even see a life-time sentence for rape or abuse towards a woman in today’s world. 

In the play, Henry’s mother tackles her husband onto the couch and begins to hit, punch, and claw him. These actions all fall under the category of abuse and although she did not intentionally mean to hurt him,she is still at fault but will never get punished for it. However, if it was the other way around and the husband was the one abusing his wife, he would be locked up instantly and be lucky to see the light of day again. This double-standard present in the play “Gods of Carnage” forced me to think about society’s view on the world about what is acceptable and what is not. From this entire experience, I learned social customs in the world around me as well as about how to never judge a book by its cover because if it were not a requirement to attend, I would never have been able to open my eyes to appreciate what can come from a theatrical performance.