Pacific Repertory Theatre, once again, lives up to its mission to produce “plays that engage, excite, educate and inspire” with God of Carnage playing at the newly renovated Circle Theatre in Carmel.
Two
couples with very different educational levels, economic means, and value
systems meet in an attempt to cope with an incident where one of their 11
year-old sons hit the other one in the face with a stick, breaking two
teeth. But the “attack” or “accident”
– depending on which set of parents is describing it -- is only a springboard
for the issues author Yasmina Reza explores. Carnage shows us
the best people on their worst behavior, and we cannot help laughing
uproariously as she does it.
Alan
(Cassidy Brown) and Annette (Julie Hughett) are upper middle-class
professionals while Michael (Tim Hart) and Veronica (Rebecca Dines) own a
retail business. All four are in top
form with a terrific script that swings from hilarity to pathos without missing
a beat.
Everyone
starts out politely although Alan, a lawyer enslaved to his cell phone,
responds aggressively to Veronica’s insistent need to obtain an apology from
his son. Annette and Michael continually
inject unsuccessful attempts at conciliation. Then the spouses appear to support each other until marital
conflict surfaces unexpectedly. Suddenly, loyalties shift and the men align against the
women. “Appropriate behavior”
entirely disappears. They continue
to struggle to come together and find common ground as parents and “civilized”
people, but are like ships passing in a foggy night. They all “mean well” but cannot match either their words or their
actions to their intentions, and the results convulsed the audience
continuously.
Throw
in Michael’s “freeing” of the family hamster, Veronica’s attachment to her one-of-a-kind
art book, Annette’s “tender tummy” and Alan’s “lawyer-like” approach to the
situation, the initial good intentions of both couples go horrifically awry to
the delight of everyone in the theater.
Like
her earlier play, Art, produced by
PacRep a decade ago, Reza has found the soft, vulnerable place in the center of
her highly-functional, modern, characters. The masterful use of language reminds one of the best
American playwrights and is a tribute to Paris-born and French-speaking Reza,
and her translator, Christopher Hampton.
The
great set (Kenneth Kelleher), costumes (Ashley Rogers) and lighting (Joanna
Hobbs) allow the audience to see and hear everything, and to revel in the
terrific comedic timing of these actors who have been masterfully directed by
Kenneth Kelleher. You have a month
to see this production of the 2009 Tony award winning play. Get your tickets soon because you won’t
want to miss it and it’s going to be a sell-out smash.
----------------------------------------------------------
30 ------------------------------------------------------------
What: God of Carnage at Pacific Repertory Theatre
Where: Circle Theatre (Casanova
Street between 8th and 9th, Carmel)
When: Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Call theatre for exact dates
in June and July.
Tickets: $16-$38 (discounts
available) Golden Bough Box Office, 622-0100, www.pacrep.org
No comments:
Post a Comment