Adults behave badly in Off Mirvish’s God of Carnage
God of Carnage written by Yasmina Reza, has received a lot of hype over the years but I was not a fan of the script at all. The premise is interesting enough, two sets of parents meeting for the first time to discuss a playground altercation between their sons. One boy has assaulted the other with a stick and broken two of his teeth.
The problem is, after the first fifteen minutes, there isn’t really anywhere else to go and yet Reza has stringed together a thin plot to keep this group of people in the same room when logically it would not have happened that way.
The characters do get up to leave on multiple occasions but then some weak gesture encourages them to stay longer and they soon become unrealistically intimate with each other. The whole thing lacks any sort of plausibility. If you enjoy watching people hurling accusations and insulting each other with no foundation then this show is for you. Reza has painted these characters in a negative light, all behaving badly and with very few, if any redeeming qualities. I didn’t care about any of them.
I loved Joel Greenberg’s direction of The Normal Heart and Clybourne Park so I was surprised that I wasn’t appreciating some of his choices this time around. There seemed to be a little too much farce going on in this dark comedy. There were silly passages of chasing each other around the sofa, plopping down on the ground with legs splayed like errant children on the playground and too many generous dashes of hysterical, shrieky acting.
God of Carnage’s four actors, (John Bourgeois, Sarah Orenstein, Tony Nappo and Linda Kash) in the production are accomplished performers and clearly display their chops. They did the best they could with what they had to work with. The men seemed to fare better in this production. Especially enjoyable was Nappo’s work as Michael. He plays a jerk with such charm and aplomb.
John Thompson’s set was very eye catching. A long swath of red carpet covered the playing area of the stage and suspended above were red walls. The furnishings were all white leather and clean lines giving it a very modern and sophisticated vibe.
Overall, I would say the actors were engaging enough and it clipped along at a good pace but I just didn’t care about the journey of these people and I truly feel that rests in the writing. I think it is great that Mirvish offers this series and allows small companies like Studio 180 the chance to broaden their audience base. I am typically a fan of what they produce but unfortunately God of Carnage was a miss for me.
God of Carnage plays at the Panasonic Theatre, to purchase tickets, please visit: http://mirvish.com/
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