Kids will be kids. And adults can sometimes be animals. At least when onstage in Yasmina Reza’s award-winning dark comedy God of Carnage. And it makes for electrically charged theater. Dark Horse Theatre Company’s sharp production might start out calm, cool, and collected, but once it gets g oing, the script takes the audience through a harrowing afternoon with two sets of parents impeccably cast and directed with fine detail by Dark Horse founder Natasha Parnian. This production started out at Saint Francis in Great Falls, Virginia, and is now ending its run at Arts Herndon (also in Virginia). For a non-holiday December outing, you could do no better than seeing God of Carnage next weekend. Arianne Warner (Annette), Nate Eagle (Alan), Samantha Mitchell (Veronica), and Tim Byer (Michael) in ‘God of Carnage.’ Photo courtesy of Dark Horse Theatre Company. The four-character play begins simply enough: Two sets of parents meet to discuss their sons, who are classmates. Veronica and Michael Novak are the hosts for the evening, having invited Annette and Alan Raleigh to their house to discuss the altercation between their boys. In fact, Benjamin Raleigh hit Henry Novak so hard that he has missing and fractured teeth. The afternoon meeting was to be a reconciliation meeting for the parents to decide how their boys should handle this situation.  As the afternoon progresses, however, the gloves come off, and parenting styles, individual backgrounds, marital tensions, and — dare I say it? — savage behavior are all on display. Reza’s script, translated by noted author Christopher Hampton, starts on simmer, then quickly has all burners on high. With the intimate three-quarter staging and Parnian’s surgical direction, the audience feels like they are in the living room with the two couples, which adds to the riveting nature of the text. Tim Byer and Samantha Mitchell are Michael and Veronica Novak, the host couple and parents of Henry, the victim. Michael runs a wholesale business, while Veronica — “Ronnie” to her husband — is an intellectual and author with an interest in African artifacts and art, which are displayed prominently in their eclectic living room. The Novaks are open-minded with progressive values. Nearly polar opposites, Alan and Annette Raleigh have high-dollar, white-collar careers. Alan, an attorney, and Annette, a wealth manager, are played by Nate Eagle and Arianne Warner, respectively.  These differences eventually contribute to clashes not only between the Raleighs and the Novaks, but also within each spouse and their partner. The building conflict between the couples and individuals is fascinating to watch. It is difficult to take your eyes off the rising conflict, a testament to the first-class, subtle, and deep acting of Myer, Mitchell, Eagle, and Warner. As couples, each pair seems as familiar and close as, well, married couples. But these are not Hallmark Channel couples; these are complex individuals with quirks, principles (or a lack thereof), biases, and unspoken feelings that do not just bubble to the surface; they eventually erupt like a volcano. Some individual moments are worth noting to illustrate the finely tuned, well-executed acting by the cast. Warner, as Annette, is brittle and standoffish, yet she can shoot her onstage spouse a look as deadly as an assassin’s bullet. Eagle, the lawyer with a cell phone as an appendage, has moments when he is nearly twisted into knots, wanting to open his DMs again, displaying only a modicum of shame. As the seemingly patient and supportive Michael, Byer slowly peels away his polished veneer to reveal a baser “man’s man” just below the surface. Playing his spouse, Mitchell has tiny reactions of shock and disgust that are as natural as can be. And “Ronnie” unraveling is a wonder to behold. On the page and on the stage, God of Carnage is a tour de force for the four-person cast in nearly any production. Parnian and her cast were able to mine the story for new subtext, especially noticeable to those familiar with the script. Let’s just say there were nuanced connections and tensions among the characters, which gave the actors even more complexity to play with. The audience gets their money’s worth and experiences the tension and sparring in real time. Sadly, the losers of the tense afternoon are the two boys, who are no closer to resolving their playground scuffle than before their parents met. As an added value to their theater ticket, Parnian encourages patrons to stay in their seats after the show for a guided talkback session with the director and actors. Shedding their characters, each actor was able to articulate some of the challenges and rewards of tackling the play. Dark Horse may be a smaller theater company and one without a permanent home, but Parnian’s innovative use of space, strong casting, and dramaturgy always result in a thoroughly engaging theatrical experience. The only trouble is that audiences only have one more weekend to catch this razor-edged production. Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission. God of Carnage, presented by Dark Horse Theatre Company, played November 14–29, 2025, at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls, VA, and will play December 5–7, 2025, at Arts Herndon in Herndon, VA. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM, with a Sunday matinee on December 7 at 2:00 PM. Purchase tickets ($20) online. Coming up next: Dark Horse Theatre Company is also known for Calamity: The Show, an unscripted, improvisational comedy. Billed as “just fearless improvisers turning your suggestions into fun,” Calamity: The Show has several dates in the coming weeks: Friday, December 19, at Arts Herndon, and Saturday, January 10, at St. Francis, Great Falls.  SEE ALSO:Civility unraveled: Dark Horse Theatre Company takes on ‘God of Carnage’ (news story, November 13, 2025) The post Tensions rise at Dark Horse Theatre in electrically charged ‘God of Carnage’ appeared first on DC Theater Arts. ...read more read less