God of Carnage

Do you remember that I LOVE LUCY episode where Lucy and Carolyn Appleby get into a fight over whether or not little Ricky or little Stevie is more brilliant? Well, at it’s most basic form, GOD OF CARNAGE is very much an episode of I LOVE LUCY. Now, Yasmina Reza can write a good play, but what she has written is a sophisticated sitcom for the Broadway stage and since nothing else on Broadway last season matched it in the new play category, it won the Tony. Still, the play is highly entertaining and very funny, but what elevates it is that it is really so true. The comedy comes from adults, who know better, letting go and finally saying just what they always wanted to say regardless of the consequences.

I missed the original cast from last season and after a summer break, the show reopened with Christine Lahti and Ken Scott as the host couple Veronica and Michael and Annie Potts and Jimmy Smits as Annette and Michael, the visiting couple. It seems that Annette and Michael’s son has knocked two teeth out of the mouth of Veronica and Michael’s son with a stick. Veronica has taken care to be a perfect hostess, with fresh flowers decorating the living room, a cheesecake and coffee. The couples chit chat, but what Veronica suggests is that the other couple’s boy should be brought to their home to apologize to their son. During all this talk, Michael is a busy lawyer who continues to take phone calls. This starts to make Annette angry, setting off a new tension in the room that slowly unravels each person. There is blame hurled at each character for being the true cause of the boys’ violence and we begin to find out what each of these people is really made of. All of this serious stuff is handled in a very comical way, but underneath the fun is a serious deconstruction of our rules of etiquette. Human’s are not animals, they have free will and can choose to rise above violent acts, but perhaps that is too difficult. After all, haven’t we just completed a catastrophic century filled with wars and aren’t we in a war now? Isn’t violence in our bones? Veronica insists, even as she herself explodes with anger, that everyone can conduct themselves in a civilized manner. Reza offers no solutions, but just points out human nature and it is easy for all of us to both laugh and look on in horror.

Matthew Warchus, who also helmed Reza’s hit play ART some years ago, gave the show perfect pace. All four actors deliver terrific seriocomic performances, not only with line readings, but physicality as well. Mark Thompson’s simple set gives the impression of a well to do, modern cosmopolitan apartment with only the most necessary props and furniture to adorn the stage. Once upon a time a one set living room play like this would be handled realistically, but this stylish impression of the world of the play is not only economical, but is really all we need. A red carpet as a pallet for white furniture and a trendy flat rock wall on an angle took care of the physical needs and gave the entire feel of the show a lot of energy.

A four person, one set play with a Best Play Tony Award attached, should do good business in regional theaters from here on out.