[NEohioPAL] Berko review: GOD OF CARNAGE @ Dobama

[Roy Berko]

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 Hysterically funny GOD OF CARNAGE at Dobama



Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)



What’s more ridiculous, two tween boys having a fight or their parents
trying to deal with the conflict?



The answer to that question can be found at Dobama Theatre where Yasmina
Reza’s GOD OF CARNAGE is now on stage.  It’s a comedy whose New York
production was dubbed “a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums and
tears.”



The name-calling tantrums are the actions of the tweens in a playground
tiff,   right?  Wrong!  It’s their parents trying to deal “rationally” with
Benjamin having knocked out two of Henry’s teeth with a twig.  Before the
meeting is over, there is a rolling on the floor hair pulling battle,
taunting, a smart phone destroyed by a dunking in a vase of tulips,
vomiting, some more vomiting, alcoholic consumption, constantly changing
alliances, and insults about everything from the pastry being served to the
belief systems of the participants.  The topics of misogyny, racial
prejudice, political attitudes, drug company misdeeds, and homophobia all
rear their ugly heads.  Rationality is replaced by riot!



Alan, Benjamin’s father, never gets off his cell phone, sharing intimate
legal secrets about one of his drug client’s questionable compounds.  Annette,
his wife, who is a “management expert” tries to be above the fray.  Well,
at least at the start.  Michael, Henry’s dad, who has just destroyed the
family’s pet gerbil, enjoys talking about his “bad boy” days as a member of
a suburban “gang.”  Veronica, the “oh-so offended,” moralistic mother of
the boy with the missing teeth, is a pseudo-intellect who fawns over art
volumes while telling about her project of writing a book about the
conflicts in Darfur.  (She has never been to Darfur.)  To add to the goings
on, the phone keeps ringing with cries of distress from Michael’s Florida
living senior citizen mother with knee problems.



The play, which opened in London in 2008, and moved to New York the next
year, was originally written in French.  Guess America isn’t the only place
with adults who act more childish than their children.



The Broadway production starred Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis
and Marcia Gay Harden.  All were nominated for Tony Awards.  The production
received the Tony for Best New Play.



The script was the source for the 2011 movie CARNAGE, which was directed by
Roman Polanski and starred Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christopher Waltz
and Kate Winslet.



Dobama’s production of GOD OF CARNAGE, under the adept direction of Joel
Hammer, is a total delight.  The show is well paced, the many laugh lines
are cued for the right responses, and the author’s intent is well developed.




The cast is universally strong.  Tracee Patterson is nothing short of
perfect as Veronica.  She embraces both the comedy and farce aspects of the
role.  Derdriu Ring’s Annette starts out controlled and competently builds
into a vomiting, opinionated hellcat.  Scott Miller effectively forms Alan,
the smart phone obsessed lawyer, into an obnoxious bore.   Michael Novak is
both funny and pathetic as the gerbil destroying dad.  The quartet plays
well off each other and creates lots of laughs with good timing and
farcical abandonment.



Laura Carlson’s scenic design makes for a perfect visual of an upper middle
class suburban living room.



*CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   GOD OF CARNAGE is a well written comedy that evokes
constant laughter.  It gets a top-notch production at Dobama.  If you want
an evening of totally delightful entertainment, to experience rationality
being replaced by riot, this is a must go-see!*



GOD OF CARNAGE runs through May 13  at Dobama.  Call 216-932-3396 or
www.dobama.org for tickets.


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