God of Carnage @ Upright Theatre Company
Photos by Delaney Rain Photography
—Jan Farrington
Several years ago, I was on a Brooklyn-bound subway train with two of our daughters. As it made a stop, we were chatting happily until I turned to the window and found a teenage boy, face pressed to the glass, making faces at our youngest daughter, who has special needs.
I nearly broke the window with my fist, instinctively trying to “get” him before he backed away, laughing.
So, there’s no way to hide from it: I know I can be (and have been) like the four parents of Yasmina Reza’s bruising comedy God of Carnage, playing at Upright Theatre Company. I know—and you probably do too—how thin the walls are between civilized behavior and tearing somebody’s head off.
Four actors play two well-off sets of Brooklyn parents (the play was set in Paris originally, and translated into English by Christopher Hampton), whose 11-year-old sons have had a fight (though perhaps fairly one-sided) in a neighborhood park. Benjamin (son of Alan and Annette, played by married actors Robert and Amie Hamilton) has hit Henry (son of Michael and Veronica, played by Tim Bass and Laura Sosnowski) with a stick, knocking out one tooth and damaging another. They’re coming together at Michael & Veronica’s place for what they tell themselves will be a calm, clarifying discussion of the incident, and what should happen next. An apology? Pitching in on the dental work? A meeting with parents and boys all together?
The two pre-teens never appear onstage. We don’t have to choose which kid to like more—and instead, get to focus on the parents, who start off by admiring the decor and comparing notes over artists they like. But from the start, there’s a touchy, quick-trigger sense of danger in the air: we sense things could go south, fast. There’s drinking, yelling, and some public puking to boot. This is a comedy—but a dark one, with an “oh, dear” quality as we look into its mirror.
In Michael and Veronica’s home, there are African tribal masks on the wall (nice scenic design/props from Eric and Amy Luckie) and art books on the coffee table. Michael is in the wholesale home/hardware business; Veronica is a writer. Alan and Annette, parents of the “hitter” Benjamin, are more corporate types. He’s a Big Pharma lawyer; she’s in “wealth management.” Different personalities emerge quickly. It’s a good, engaging cast, who add layers to their characters as they go along.
Michael seems casual, an everyday guy wanting things to go well—though he says later he’s an “absolute Neanderthal.” Veronica speaks the right words, but she’s wound very tight (the cords in her neck are visible), and clearly thinks she’s better than the other parents (even her husband). Alan, cool and dry, is plotting media strategy for a new drug that might not be as harmless as they thought; he’s always on his cell phone. And his wife Annette is a cypher at the start, but evolves into one of the more active, intense characters onstage.
Director Natalie Burkhart sets a quick pace, and lets the characters change and evolve in human terms—in other words, not in one revelation, but in fits and starts, with aggressive behavior one moment, then a retreat into politeness and diplomacy. Michael, especially, goes from mild-mannered to Extremely Loud (and back again). The men pair up against their women, and vice versa. There’s a strong current of humor running through it all—but it’s the dark, rueful humor of seeing people like ourselves behaving very badly…and knowing the odds are we’d be just like them.
There’s jazz playing before the show and during intermission. Good stuff—but after a while, its edgy sounds blend with the sharp elbows of the play. Will our world always be ruled by the “god of carnage”—or can we do better?
WHEN: Through May 7
WHERE: Upright Theatre Co., 2501 N. Main, Euless
WEB: uprighttheatre.org
