‘God of Carnage’ @ Lakeside Community Theatre
Photos courtesy of LCT and HDS Designs
—Jan Farrington
If you’re a parent, it’s highly likely you’ve blundered or shoved your way into a quarrel about your child. If so, your guffaws at the goings-on in God of Carnage will be louder than those of nearby non-parents—who will laugh, but be secretly horrified. What do they know? They still live in the civilized world.
I’ve seen God of Carnage several times before, but can firmly say I laughed harder and more genuinely for Lakeside Community Theatre’s production than I’ve done before. Director David Wallis pulled together a crackling cast for Yazmina Reza’s sharp-elbowed play, and he (and they) knew exactly where to do.
A playground “incident” is the catalyst for the story. Two boys, ages 10 and 11, have words—and then one (the unseen Benjamin) hits the other (the equally unseen Henry) with a stick, knocking out a tooth and injuring (his mother says “Disfiguring!”) his face. Henry’s parents Michael and Veronica (Michael Miller and Amanda Carson Green) have invited Benjamin’s parents Alan and Annette (Josh Radde and Dana Naughton) to their home in hopes of resolving things calmly and privately.
They’re practicing “the art of coexistence,” one of them says smugly. Oh, this will be fun.
Veronica (Green) carries a pen with a small notebook, and prides herself on being calm, rational and fair. She know’s what’s right…and needs to share that knowledge. She’s writing a sort of joint statement from the four parents, and they’re already quarreling about words. “‘Armed’ with a stick?”asks other father Alan (Radde). Well, concedes Veronica, perhaps “furnished with a stick” would be better.
Green’s Veronica devolves hilariously into a snarky, over-sharing mess, but in believable stages; her major breakdown begins with her need to mop up a disgusting mess all over her most prized book…and half the living room. Veronica’s insistence on truth-telling makes her blurt out the sad tale of the family’s pet hamster—which becomes a second four-way fight of its own.
Her husband Michael (Miller) is a store owner (home goods) who comes across as a regular Joe, a soft-spoken peacemaker. Until…Annette reveals his “breaking bad” role in the hamster tragedy. Unmasked, Michael never regains his cool. He breaks out a bottle of rum, gets everyone but his wife drunk, and reveals a “Neanderthal” side he seems proud of. Miller is wonderful at portraying a nice-guy gone rogue—or is it back to his true self?
The two couples reek of class awareness: Veronica is a stay-at-home mom, Michael a modestly successful retailer. Visitors Annette (Naughton) and Alan (Radde) know they’re up higher on the ladder. She’s a stuffy “wealth manager,” and he’s a honcho in Big Pharma, ear welded to his cell phone, which never stops pinging (though amusingly, the sound always comes from the opposite end of the stage from the actor).
Annette’s come-down—via a) rum, and b) her growing rage over Alan’s cell phone obsession—literally brings her to her knees, and Naughton’s comic timing is great. Yes, her marriage may be shaky, and she’s covered herself with…embarrassment. But she’s still pretty sure she’s quite a gal.
I’d give Radde an A-plus for his eyeballs alone—he slumps motionless in an armchair for the longest time, staring into space like Jimmy Cagney just one second from erupting. But there’s more. Radde’s Alan is so many alpha males jammed into one suit. We think at first he’s a disconnected businessman who doesn’t spend any brain-space on his family. But no, he’s paying attention in his way. “Madam, our son is a savage,” he says to Veronica as they cross swords about how “hard” to come down on the boys. “Children drag us to disaster.” Radde’s staccato phone work with his colleagues clearly takes a big, focused chunk of his mind. But in the room, he can be a jokey drinking buddy for Michael, a sparring partner for Veronica, even a buck-it-up-old-girl husband to Annette. He’s very watchable.
One of the pleasures of the play (again, a final kudo—can it be singular?—to LCT) is in the shifting “allegiances” among the four characters: the men surprise us with their bonding moments, and the women as well (remembering a gleeful high-five between Veronica and Annette). In the end, Reza doesn’t quite tell us how the story will come out. Do the two couples never meet again, or make a standing date for brunch once a month? Alan is the smarty-pants who tells them about the “god of carnage” who’s been fueling human conflict “since the dawn of time.” The G of C will probably win this one too—but you never know.
WHEN: February 14-March 1, 2025
WHERE: LCT, 6303 Main Street, The Colony TX
WEB: LCTTheColony.com
