Yasmina Reza, author of the play “God of war”: I do not talk about meaning, instincts interest me
“Lord of carnage” - Yasmina Reza's latest work, written in 2006 over an unbelievably short period of time – three months. “I wrote it without any order, without a plan, I simply wrote”, – remembers the author.
The creation of this play was not encouraged by philosophical thoughts or the writer's fantasies, but actually vice-versa – it was based on a completely true event, which she heard from her son about. “When my son was 13 or 14 years old, a fight arose between two of his friends. The boys exchanged blows and one of them lost a tooth. A few days later I met the mother of this boy and inquired whether he was doing better, and she replied: “Can you imagine, the parents [of the other boy] did not even call me”. And then suddenly it clicked – this is an incredible theme!” - says Y. Reza.
Soon she already had a play which rose to the tops of popularity at the speed of a rocket. Theatre critics in London praised Y. Reza's shifty humour and accurate insights. She scooped the prestigious Olivier and Tony awards, had the Sopranos star J. Gandolfini play in the Broadway performance, and the play was adapted for the big screens by the scandalous Polish director Roman Polanski. It was the first time when the playwright's work appeared on television. When asked what made her change her mind, Y.Reza answers without hesitation: “Polanski. I adore him. We are identical, we do not talk about meaning, we discuss the instincts”.
The critics analyzing Y. Reza's plays often compare the themes with W. Golding's book “Lord of flies”, where children's cruelty also appears, or even the psychologist P. Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment, the aim of which was to analyze the human nature and the influence of power for the actions of individuals.
Both “Art” and “God of carnage” prove that even the nicest of people can be the cruelest barbarians – everything depends on an instinct, which escapes the shining of the surface. The difference is that in Y. Reza's plays all this is accompanied by a considerable serving of subtle humour.
The play “God of carnage” centers two middle class couples meeting up to discuss the fight between their children. It is allegedly a civilized meeting covered by exterior mannerisms and bourgeois politeness, which in its course grows into a tragicomic mise-en-sc`ene full of swearing and contempt towards each other.
Y. Reza is often accused of moralizing due to themes like this, but, according to the author herself, theatre is the mirror, the reflection of the society, and the best playwrights are moralists, because they reflect the problems of the society. When asked if she considers herself to be a moralist, she smiles: “I do not know, maybe I am... The critics tend to find sociological dimension in my work. I am flattered, but this is not what inspires me. I am motivated by writing about people who were raised “properly” but at some moment break down and the instincts take over.”
The playwright never attempts to explain her characters to the audience or even the actors. She says: “Psychoanalysis does not interest me. I work like a painter. If he paints the picture of someone else, he is not interested in what that person was like in his childhood. He paints what he sees.” Because of this, some think of Reza's plays as banal and shallow, while actually there is a lot of space left for interpretation, and that stimulates the viewers' imagination. According to the critics, in respect of the concealing, snobbish plays often appeal to people who do not normally go to theatre.
Despite her world-wide fame, Y. Reza is trying to keep herself away from anything related to the commerce or politics. However, the writer's openly demonstrated apolitical attitude seemed strange after the book “Dawn, Dusk or Night” (L'aube, le soir ou la nuit), where she tells about the years of communication with Nicolas Sarkozy, appeared on sale in 2007. In one of the chapters the author describes how the still-to-be president grabbed a copy of Le Figaro newspaper enchanted by the piece on the front page. It was not news about Iran or election in France, but an advertisement of a luxurious Rolex watch.
The opening of the “Lord of war” performance, directed by Dainius Kazlauskas and starring Giedrius Savickas, Darius Gumauskas, Aurelija Tamulytė, Viktorija Kuodytė will take place on 16th February at the MINI concert and theatre hall (entrance through BMW club) in Vilnius Siemens Arena. Tickets to the performance are distributed by Tiketa.
