The carnage begins tonight.
In a city replete with musical theatre, comedies, stand-up acts and live music, there is relatively little drama on local stages - in the traditional sense of the theatrical word.
The plays that make you think, wrestle with emotions, perhaps go down dark alleys and aren't aimed at the funny-bone are often given a miss by theatre companies in need of a feel-good hit at the box office.
But community theatre companies can make some magical entertainment with them, and that is what's happening starting at 8 p.m. tonight.
Pocket Theatre Company is staging a production of God Of Carnage.
Film fans will recognize it by the contracted title Carnage starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly, directed by Roman Polanski. This is the original stage version of that four-way conversation that starts out as lighthearted problem-solving and soon devolves into more of a problem than the original issue.
Two couples come together to hash out the aftermath of their two kids' altercation on the playground, but soon, none of them is playing well in the larger sandbox of life.
If it sounds like a group of adults devolving into children, perhaps even animals, over the course of a witty rush of dialogue and surprise reactions, it might bring to mind the play Art seen at the start of this year's Theatre North West season. The playwright is the same, Yasmina Reza.
"You can feel repelled by their actions with each other, but it also feels oddly familiar," said Peter Maides, director of the local production.
"It starts out amicable, but amicable only last about two pages. I've seen it done something like 80 times now, and I still love it. I'm still finding interesting philosophical points and new insights into human behaviour."
The script gets into gender politics, socio-economic conditions, sexual tensions, the concepts of divide-and-conquer versus strategic alliances, all blended into four distinct personalities who land in each other's lap in the same room.
"I don't want people to think this is just a big argument. It's not a fight from beginning to end," said Maides.
"There is laughter, there is humour, but it shows a side of humanity we can all relate to as it slides down a not-so-good path.
It might make your face flush as suddenly you remember saying something once that you regret, or a mistake you made with someone you now want to take back."
It sounds like an emotional challenge for Maides to take on for his first play.
He is accustomed to being at the front of a classroom as an English instructor at the College of New Caledonia.
He is one of the veteran organizers of Cinema CNC, as well, so he has made this form of entertainment a life's study.
However, he has rarely been on stage as an actor and never been the chief of a production.
"I feel like I cheated a little," he said.
"All four of these actors have also been directors in the past, and our stage manager is also highly skilled, so I knew I could rely on the team much more than they would be relying on me."
The cast includes Mark Wheeler, Frank Caffrey, Katherine Trepanier and Allison Haley with Johnell McClelland as said stage manager.
God Of Carnage happens tonight through Saturday in the Stan Shaffer Theatre (Room 1-306) at CNC. Tickets are $15 regular or $12 for students, seniors and the unemployed.
