God of Carnage

So the other night, I had the opportunity to see the 2009 Tony Winner for Best Play.  That show, of course, is God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza.  Now with its third cast, the show is playing at the Bernard Jacobs Theater on 45th street.  I went in feeling like I was prepared to be underwhelmed but luckily, that wasn't the case at all.

The story is actually a quite basic premise.  One boy hits another boy in the face with a stick, during an altercation.  The parents of both boys agree to meet in order to sort out what should be done to reconcile the matter.  A simple meeting of two couples turns into a horrific yet, hilarious night of drunken fighting and accusations.

The play begins with the two couples, Veronica and Michael (parents of the victim) and Annette and Alan, already in the middle of this meeting.  Tension begins with the wording of a statement composed by Veronica (Janet McTeer) describing Annette and Alan's son as being "armed with a stick."  The visiting couple, played by Lucy Liu and Dylan Baker, don't take to favorably to statement and sets the meeting on course to its, eventual, destruction.  Pretty simple plot, right? Well, this play takes cell phones, rum, tulips and, even, vomit and uses them all to hilarious effect.

I found that the play was very funny and very fast paced.  Director Matthew Warchus does a great job of keeping everything moving.  At 90 minutes, with no intermission, there's really no time to get to settled in and let your mind wander.  You need to keep your ears open so as not to miss one of the well placed barbs that the characters toss at each other throughout the play.  

The actors are all game and really seem to be having a great time up there on the stage.  The cast of four includes one returning Broadway cast member in a different role, a member of the original London cast, a stage/film vet and a tv/film star making her Broadway debut.

Jeff Daniels plays Michael.  He's hilarious as the husband who starts out as the "voice of reason" of this meeting but, slowly spins completely out of control as anger and rum start to get to him.  I think what's most interesting about this performance is that he was originally nominated for the Tony for Best Actor in a Play for the playing the character of Alan.  It's not often that a lead actor will return to a production to play another lead character.  I never got to see him as Alan but, I say, kudos to him for coming back to play Michael and being brave enough to face the inevitable comparisons to his performances.

Speaking of Alan, in this cast he's played by Dylan Baker.  He does a great job of playing the father who's only there because he has to be.  A lawyer who is constantly on his phone, he's hilarious to watch in his melt down when that phone is taken away from him.

As Alan's other half Annette, we have Lucy Liu.  GOC is her Broadway debut and she makes it a worthwhile one.  I was a little unsure of her at the beginning but, as her character seems to settle in to the downward spiral of this meeting, so does her performance.  Vomiting truly does seem to perk her up.  When Annette finally gets hold of the aforementioned bottle of rum, the character and actress seem to really bust loose to hilarious effect.  

But to me, the true star of this play is Janet McTeer.  She originated the role of Veronica in the London production of the show.  She also has the distinction of losing the Best Actress Tony to the woman who originated the role here in the States (that would be Marcia Gay Harden whom I love but, didn't get to see in this.)  For those that don't know, Janet was nominated for the role of Queen Elizabeth I in Mary Stuart (she was brilliant I'm told but, I didn't see it.)  Anyway here, she's nothing short of brilliant in her turn from "key peacemaker" to "total loony".   And she does it, almost completely, without touching the bottle of rum.  To call her the best in this cast of great performances is high praise indeed and I do believe, she earns it!

If there's any sort of criticism that I have for the show, it's the fact that there is no real beginning or ending to the show.  It sort of just starts and stops while in mid-conversation.  It left me wanting to see what came before and after.  But, I guess, that's what a good play does, right?  Leaves you wanting more.  Funny with great performances!  I say go see it.