Theater Review by Mitchell Field
San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle voting member…
‘God of Carnage’
While I have previously seen three other productions of this Yasmin Reza play, there are enough funny moments in it to make it worth another go.
‘God of Carnage’ is the type of play which post-Covid theaters prefer today, i.e., one set, no scene changes and just four actors. Tidy and relatively inexpensive to produce.
The play involves the get-together of two couples, each of whose young sons has been involved in a fight, in which one of the boys has sustained minor injuries from a blow from a stick.
In one couple, the blustering Alan, (Todd Duda), is a distracted, self-important lawyer who is perpetually on his cell phone, particularly as he is busy orchestrating a cover-up for his most important client, a big-Pharma manufacturer whose huge-earning drug is suspected of causing major health problems just two weeks before it’s upcoming shareholder meeting and his prim wife Annette, (Allison Gamlen), who is ‘in wealth-management’.
The meeting takes place in the suburban living room of another couple, the husband of which, jovial everyman Michael, (Tony Daniel) is a wholesaler of plumbing supplies, with an ill mother who phones him frequently and his tense and controlling wife Veronica (Katharine Otis) an artist, who is busy writing a book about Darfur.
The couples have come together to resolve the matter of their children’s fight and resulting injury in a civilized manner, however, as the evening wears on, the parents become increasingly childish and the meeting devolves into chaos as loyalties shift and alliances form, then break apart in quick succession.
During a particularly funny yet dramatic moment in the play, while topics including politics, racial prejudice, homophobia and sexism are being argued, the perky Annette projectile-vomits onto husband Alan, the coffee table and an irreplaceable first-edition of Francis Bacon illustrations, which Michael then tries to dry-off with a hair dryer.
I was lucky enough to have been at the 2008 London opening of the play which starred Ralph Fiennes and the equally wonderful Tamsin Greig and Janet McTeer, during which a power failure occurred about an hour into the show. After a wait in the dark, the audience was offered a refund, a rain-check, or the opportunity to watch the rest of the play with emergency lighting (fixtures on extension cords run from outside on each side of the stage) which the audience raucously cheered for, before the show resumed.
It went on to win The Olivier Award as Best New Play of The Year.
The subsequent Broadway production was also a hit, becoming the third longest-running play of the 2000’s after ‘The 39 Steps’ (upcoming Nov.15th at Masquers Playhouse BTW) and ‘August: Osage County’ and winning the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play.
Roman Polanski directed the 2011 film adaption of ‘God of Carnage’, the title of which was shortened to ‘Carnage’ and featured Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet.
Masquer’s Playhouse production of ‘God of Carnage’, which, like the original contains ‘strong language’ and slurs, is remarkably well-directed by Masquers newcomer and recent Muhlenberg College grad Chris Rubingh, on a simple, tight set, in which each of the actors get, in addition to their snippy, snappy and often argumentative and provocative dialog, their own brief monologue, which each handles exceptionally well, as the play careens explosively between the deliciousness of (and recipe secrets for) the French dessert Clafoutis, the efficiency of certain plumbing fixtures, the complexities and vagaries of human nature, the quandary of parental responsibility and brutality toward pet hamsters, all of which are aired in this dark, one-act comedy.
Numerous members of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle were in attendance on Friday and we all agreed that this production warrants our ‘Go-See’ seal of approval.
Masquers Playhouse is located in the tiny, quaint town of Point Richmond, also sometimes
referred to locally as The Point, a neighborhood in Richmond, California, at the Eastern end of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Where: 105 Park Place, Point Richmond Richmond, California. 94807.
When: Sept. 6-29 2024 with talk-back with cast and production team after the 9/15 performance.
Single tickets for non musicals are $30. Seniors and Students save 10%. Performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. Additionally, there is one Special Performance per production on a Thursday Evening for the discounted price of $15 per ticket. Seating is General Admission. Seating is first come first served, but there is not a bad seat in the house. Doors open 30 minutes prior to show time.
How: Tickets online at info@masquers.orgi or by calling 510-232-4031.
Why: To support local theater and have a fun time doing it!
