The North Frontenac Little Theatre play God of Carnage, by Yasmina Reza, will be performed at Sharbot Lake High School Auditorium on Thurs., May 2; Fri., May 3; Sat., May 4 at 7:30 p.m. and at a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, May 5.

The play is centred around two boys, Henry and Benjamin, one of whom, while playing in the park, accidentally hit the other boy in the mouth, breaking a tooth. Henry's parents have invited Benjamin's parents to their home for the evening to discuss the situation hoping to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

Alan Raliegh, Benjamin's father, is a lawyer who works for a drug company and is always on his cell phone. He would much rather be working on his case than be at this meeting. Alan is played by Rob Bell who appears for the first time on stage with NFLT and he's really enjoying the experience.

Alan's wife, Annette, tries very hard to be friendly with the Novaks and to discuss the problem civilly. Martina Field, a veteran actor with NFLT, plays Annette. She has acted in a number of plays including The Wizard of Oz (as the Wicked Witch of the West), Annie, Oliver and Midsummer's Night Dream. She also helped with sets for Midsummer's Night Dream.

Michael Novak, Henry's father, has been quite successful in the plumbing wholesale business. While he is interested in discussing and resolving the issue, he would like to do so in a straight forward matter-of-fact way. John Stephen, a long time member of the theatre group, plays the role of Michael. John appeared in last fall's show, Tom Sawyer, as Old Joe and previously in Maple Lodge and Opening Night, among others.

Veronica Novak, played by Karen Steele, is an author whose idea it was to meet with Benjamin's parents to try to iron out the situation with their sons. She attempts to keep the others on track by bringing the discussion back to the facts as she sees them. Karen has acted in a number of plays over the years, including Maple Lodge, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Noises Off and Opening Night. She has also directed a couple of plays. All four actors are having a lot of fun with their roles this time.

The play is directed by Kelli Bell, who recently directed Sara's Getting Married but this is her first time directing her husband, Rob (on stage, that is). Kelli has also performed in some plays, including Maple Lodge, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, The Wizard of Oz and Opening Night.

While the evening begins with the two couples conversing logically and amiably about the situation, before long irrational arguments begin and angry words are thrown back and forth. As the evening wears on things get more intense and one begins to wonder if things would have turned out better if the boys had been left to work out the situation on their own. Do they end up with an agreeable solution? To find out how this ends you will have to see the show. See you there.

Caution: The play contains coarse language and is not recommended for children.

Because Easter came early this year, organizers of the Good Friday Easter services in Arden opted for a Cross Walk this year instead of their more elaborate Passion play. A total of 31 members of the community, who included members of the Kaladar, Mountain Grove, Arden and Wesleyan church congregations, walked from the Matson farm to the Arden United church and took turns carrying a number of different-sized wooden crosses. The group, which ranged in age from 5 years old to 70 plus ,stopped at two stations where the group sang a number of hymns. Following the walk Rev. Barbara Mahood led a special Good Friday service at the Arden United Church. On Sunday, members of the community also took part in a special sonrise service at the beach at Big Clear Lake.

A small group of theatre members are very busy these days learning lines and rehearsing for the spring show under the direction of Kelli Bell. The show chosen is God of Carnage by French playwright Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton. It has been performed in many countries around the world, and won The Laurence Olivier Award in 2009 for the London production and Best Play Award on Broadway the same year. It was the longest running play on Broadway in the 2000's with 24 previews and 452 regular performances with mostly positive reviews. As well, in 2011, it was made into a film entitled Carnage directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jodi Foster, John C. Reilly, Christopher Waltz and Kate Winslet.

The play takes place in Cobble Hill, a neighbourhood of Brooklyn. Two sets of parents meet after the child of one set is hurt by the child of the other parents. They plan to discuss the situation in a “civilized manner”. Alan Raleigh, father of Benjamin, is a lawyer, constantly pre-occupied by his work and never off his mobile phone. His wife, Annette, is involved in “wealth management” (perhaps mostly her husband's wealth). Michael Novak, Henry's father, is a self-made plumbing wholesaler and Veronica is writing a book about Darfur.

The evening begins with tense politeness and civil discussion as the four adults enjoy coffee and clafouti in the Novak's living room but as the evening progresses and Michael brings out a bottle of rum, the gloves come off and the situation degenerates into childishly bad behaviour. All four begin to behave like rude children and their underlying characters begin to show. The play is funny at times but at the same time very serious with some intense scenes. How will it all end? Will they resolve “the problem” between their sons?

WARNING : This play has coarse language and is not recommended for children.

God of Carnage will be performed at Sharbot Lake High School Auditorium on May 2, 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale in early April. Watch for posters in area businesses and articles and ads in The Frontenac News.

The seats filled up quickly at the Bellrock Schoolhouse Theatre on January 26 for a special production of the Pulitzer Prize nominated play “Love Letters”, written by A. R. Gurney.

Fred Colwell, whom some may remember for his remarkable portrayal of Scrooge in the theatre’s holiday production of “A Christmas Carol”, introduced the play, and his two long-time pals, well-known Canadian veteran actors Carolyn Hetherington and Fred Euringer played the roles of Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd.

Carolyn Hetherington appeared as Eliza in Sarah Polley's feature film “Away From Her” and in other TV and movies roles in addition to spending decades as a stage actor.

The two actors have performed the play numerous times in their careers. Both seated in arm chairs, they read the script, which was written in epistolary form, more commonly found in novels. The play consists of a series of back and forth letters that span over 50 years.

While it is a very simple premise, “Love Letters” touchingly reveals the relationship and the love that develops between the two very different characters. Melissa is a well to do, free and highly spirited person, first a girl then later a mature artist and painter who comes from a wealthy and very dysfunctional and broken family. Alan, on the other hand, is more driven by common sense - a hard working and conservative type from a loving, close-knit family.

The script reveals their relationship first as young, carefree school children with an emphasis on their comical family and everyday school lives, and then moves forward delving into and the more complicated thoughts and feelings that their young adulthood brings. The play takes on a serious undercurrent that is developed more fully in the second half of the play as the two continue to correspond, even as their lives enter onto more unsure and shaky ground.

The play as a whole is a homage to the lost art of letter writing and its ability to reveal the beauty, depth, humour and tragedy that is contained in seemingly ordinary people's lives.

Though some might anticipate that over an hour and a half of listening to two seated characters read a written correspondence from centre stage could be a trial, both actors brought their own expertise and emotional depth to the performances and managed to create an entirely believable world based solely on words.

Their correspondence, while often very humorous, also portrayed the heart felt, personal trials and tribulations each character faces as their lives, though remaining connected, go in two very separate ways.  While the two did make several attempts over the years to create a romantic relationship between themselves, for a variety of reasons that proved unattainable, though the correspondence is always kept up.

Not to reveal the cathartic ending of the play; “Love Letters” speaks of how written correspondence can contain the most intimate feelings and thoughts of two separate individuals who still manage to stay connected even after one of those lives comes to an end.