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Johnny's SummaryGod of Carnage Review - 4 out of 5 stars
by Revonda Pokrzywa
It's easy to see why Parisian playwright Yasmina Reza's new play, "God of Carnage" was such a hit with New York audiences. "God of Carnage" is what "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe" would have been if Edward Albee had been out to make a comedy, and had wanted that comedy to include such dramatic flourishes as projectile vomiting. It all begins innocuously enough. Similarly to the famous Albee play, two couples are gathered for what at first glance might be an intimate dinner party. However, we soon learn that amusing conversation is not the focal point of the evening. Rather, the couples are meeting to negotiate a peace settlement following events in that most volatile of locations, the playground. What begins as a faux polite, and somewhat stiff exchange soon breaks down into utter chaos. In "God of Carnage", Reza has managed to strip away the veneer of polite society to reveal its primitive underbelly, and the result is gut-wrenchingly hilarious. The Tony and Olivier award-winning "God of Carnage", with translation by Christopher Hampton and directed by Daniel Goldstein is playing now through Feb. 5th at the Huntington Theatre Company.
In "God of Carnage", two sets of parents are meeting to discuss an incident involving their children, a stick, and two broken incisors. Clearly, the civilized thing is for the parents to meet and somehow smooth over the unfortunate interlude. Negotiations begin to break down almost immediately with disagreements over such things as whether or not one child was "armed" with a stick or merely "furnished" with one. "God of Carnage" should be immediately relatable to anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to attend a charged P.T.O. meeting, or even once saw one on T.V. The victim's parents, Veronica and Michael Novak, played by Johanna Day and Stephen Bogardus, have invited the alleged attacker's parents, Alan and Annette Raleigh, portrayed by Brooks Ashmanskas and Christy Pusz into their stylish New York apartment. Scenic Designer Dane Laffrey's taste here is pitch perfect. The Novak's apartment is furnished with everything than the mildly pretentious upper class New Yorker could desire. These furnishings include furniture which is more artistic than functional, the de rigueur globally minded African art masks, a slew of out of print art books, and, la piece de la resistance, a Venus of Willendorf. Laffrey's set plays an important role in "God of Carnage". From Alan's somewhat vain attempts to sit comfortably on the modernist arm chair to Annette's unfortunate, but crowd-pleasing vomiting on Veronica's out of print Sothebys art catalogue, the elegance of the apartment is contrasted to the undeniably animalistic needs of the people inhabiting it.
It's obvious that the actors in "God of Carnage" enjoy playing their respective roles. Although none of them stood out in particular to me, it was largely due to the fact that their chemistry together is so good. In the beginning, everyone is on their best behavior. Pusz's Annette is apologetic and full of sympathy for the victimized boy. She comes across as almost awkwardly polite, like some Midwest mother on a college parent's day. Day's Veronica, by contrast, comes across as almost smug in the beginning. She accepts compliments on her tulip arrangements, her art books, and her child rearing beliefs with none too subtle references to their cost. Refinement is obviously expensive. The two dads are clearly there by coercion, although there is some debate about this as the evening progresses. In Alan, Ashmanskas channels his inner jerk. From his incessantly loud cell phone conversations to his general lack of social graces, he is the stereotypical New York lawyer. You know, the one that all of those lawyer jokes are based upon. Bogardus' Michael starts off as someone's version of an enlightened male, but it soon becomes obvious that his wife has, as he puts it, been trying to pass him off as a liberal. While all of actors are somewhat amusing in these early caricatures of culturally sophisticated parents, it soon becomes clear that the beginning scenes are not what made them go after these roles. As the evening progresses, the language and action becomes increasingly blue. At this point, the actors fall into this brave new world of expletive-rich pratfalls with wild abandon. You can tell that this was what they were waiting for all along, and the audience is right there with them.
"God of Carnage" plays out as a darkly absurdist comedy of manners. Oddly enough, Reza herself didn't see it as a comedy so much as a type of tragedy. If you are navigating that twisting and sometimes treacherous road of child rearing, you may not be able to find as much to laugh about either. But if, like me, you can watch this a safe distance away from that rarefied world of overpriced kid birthday parties and play dates, you will find more than enough to laugh about.
Full Description""I can't remember when I laughed out loud this much! God of Carnage is smart and vicious dark comedy.""
— WBUR
""RAUCOUS, UPROARIOUS, AND HILARIOUS! A very interesting, very funny play."" — WGBH
The Tony and Olivier Award-winning New York smash hit by the author of Art comes to the Huntington! Two sets of parents meet for the first time to settle their sons' nasty schoolyard tangle. But all attempts at civilized discussion quickly devolve into childlike behavior in this fast, furious, and very, very funny comedy of bad manners.
Approximate running time: 1 hour 20 minutes, with no intermission.
""Hilarious!"" — Associated Press
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