THE "GOD OF CARNAGE" OVERSEES ARGUMENTS

          CARLEIGH SCHULTZ AND JOSEPH MAURIELLO AS THE RALEIGHS

If you have a serious disagreement or conflict, you have several choices: (1) get angry and fight (2) let the issue go and forget it or (3) gather the principals together and sit down to resolve the question. For two sets of parents, Michael and Veronica Novak and Annette and Alan Raleigh, the third option is their
selection.  Their eleven year old sons had a confrontation at a park, when Ben Raleigh took a bamboo stick and knocked out Henry Novak's two front teeth.

To sit in on this memorable meeting, let the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre of Berlin provide you a front row seat when Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage," translated by Christopher Hampton, is dramatically and comically staged weekends until Friday, October 10.

What starts out as a calm and reasonable discussion of the issues soon escalates into an all out melee, including fisticuffs and verbal attacks. tears and tantrums.  Civility disintegrates into barbarism as the two intelligent couples become more childish than their offspring, hurling four letter words and accusations freely and openly.

Discover how coffee and kaflutti ( a fruit tart), a vase of tulips, a hamster, prized art books, aged rum, a hair dryer and incessant cell phone calls all combine to raise the level of responsibility to new heights.

Kris McMurray has triple hats as director, producer and actor as Michael Novak, taking to the front of the stage for the first time in almost a decade. Kudos, Kris.  He is joined by Julie Lemos as his wife Veronica, Carleigh Schultz as Annette Raleigh and Joseph Mauriello as her hubby Alan. They are all spot-on great as the irritated and irate combatants.

For tickets ($30), call CT Cabaret, 31-33 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com.  Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7:15 p.m.  Remember to bring goodies to share at your table or plan to buy refreshments on site.

Come pick a side and root for the parents or the kids or for justice, the American flag and apple/pear pie.