French writer Yasmina Reza is known for her biting, socially revealing dramas, and “God of Carnage” at Signature Theatre is no exception. This play begins as a meeting between two upper-middle-class Brooklyn couples who get together to discuss an incident of playground violence between their young sons, but Reza quickly shifts the focus to analyze not the children but their uncivilized parents.
The evening begins at the well-appointed home of Veronica (Naomi Jacobson) and Michael Novak (Andy Brownstein). James Kronzer’s white-on-white set, complete with leather furniture and abstract art, perfectly describes the Novak’s comfortable economic situation. Annette Raleigh (Vanessa Lock) and her husband Alan (Paul Morella) are visiting the Novaks to discuss the fact that the Raleigh’s son has hit the Novak’s son with a stick and damaged two of his incisors.
The parents’ meeting is intended to discuss the situation and to determine what is to be done. But since each set of parents comes into the meeting convinced of its son’s innocence, the evening quickly descends into a no-holds-barred fight, as the true, unrestrained personalities of four opinionated adults emerge.
| Onstage |
| ‘God of Carnage’ |
| Where: Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington |
| When: Through June 24 |
| Info: $30 to $80; 703-820-9771; signature-theatre.org |
The Signature cast members play very different types. Veronica is a socially conscious writer, preparing a book on Darfur. Her husband is an unsophisticated salesman of industrial goods. Alan is a scheming, unscrupulous lawyer protecting a drug company that is selling an unsafe drug. His wife is in “wealth management.” Jacobson, Brownstein, Lock and Morella work as a beautifully integrated ensemble, displaying the ridiculous implications of finger-pointing and name-calling.
The original “God of Carnage” was in French. Christopher Hampton’s translation is fluid and direct, beginning with pleasant banter and ending in absurdity.
“God of Carnage” contains a great deal of farce, which depends on a sense of the outrageous and often on physical humor. Director Joe Calarco knows how to establish those things in this production, bringing out all of Reza’s ferocious wit and incisive humor. The play starts off fast and gathers steam continuously, with the characters constantly changing sides and attitudes. While the characters are drinking espresso, the Novaks are allied against the Raleighs, but as the madness progresses and Michael breaks out the rum, alliances shift and change several times until the play reaches its bizarre, hilarious conclusion.
There’s a thin veneer of politeness during the first few minutes of “God of Carnage,” but after that, the play’s appeal is that nothing is hidden. Every character’s political, social, marital, moral and parental views are spilled out to be viewed and challenged, ripped apart and digested by the other characters. It’s an exciting, shocking, funny, entertaining display that is as long on humor as it is on honesty about human nature.
