God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton

It's not difficult to appreciate why Ms Reza's God of Carnage (and Mr Hampton's translation of it) is one of the most celebrated and decorated plays of the decade. It is pin-point accurate satire of the highest order … a flawlessly structured, intricate and glittering dissection of relationships, manners, careers, ambitions and societal aspirations: and the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of it is stunning.

Véronique (Ms Rabe) and husband Michel (Mr Morrell in his MTC debut) sit down with Alain (Mr Weaving) and wife Annette (Ms Herbert) to discuss how they are going to deal with the fact that Alain and Annette's son has whacked theirs in the mouth with a stick – knocking out teeth and causing various degrees of increasingly, seemingly irreparable, damage. The negotiation begins with a disagreement about the wording of a 'cause and effect' statement … and over the next fleeting 90 minutes, anything (and literally everything) goes.

Mr Evans directs with rare economy and absolute precision – connecting instinctively and immediately with the play's internal engine. He is supported by Mr Ferguson's lean, similarly economic and attractive design. Mr Scott's lighting brings everything into stark relief and the cold, dark, disassembling shadow which is cast over the proceedings in the play's dying minutes is astonishingly painful. A 'slow fade to blackout' doesn't come much better than this – made all the more powerful by a playwright at the very height of her powers: knowing when, and how, to end on a beat – a breath – of perfect realisation. Ms Steel's contribution is marvellously physical rough and tumble which, if anything, I wish (as exemplified in God of Carnage's cousin, Noel Coward's Private Lives) there had been a good deal more of.

The glorious cast (dressed perfectly by Mr Ferguson) relish, and deliver, every moment with absolute skill in a rare show of exemplary stagecraft. These are four of our best – and, hours after the performance had ended, it remained an almost guilty pleasure that we had been given the opportunity to see them all at work in the same place at the same time.

See it.

Geoffrey Williams

Pictured: Hugo Weaving and Natasha Herbert in God of Carnage. Photographed by Jeff Busby.