Stage Review - God of Carnage (SecondStory Repertory)
Stage Review - God of Carnage
Presented By: SecondStory Repertory, Redmond, WA
Show Run: January 12 - January 28, 2024
Date Reviewed: Friday, January 12, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
“Boys will be boys!” I think it’s fair to say that the majority of us have heard that phrase, used either as a generality to explain the rough and tumble manner in which young boys play, like smaller bulls in the proverbial china shop, or sometimes as a defense of behavior that perhaps has gone a bit too far. Either way, boys are usually given a decent amount of leash when it comes to their behavior and the resultant consequences. But what happens when it goes too far, and someone gets injured (“it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye!”)? And what happens when the boys’ respective parents are on different sides of the fence when it comes to whether or not boys, in fact, will just be boys? That’s the basic premise of God of Carnage, the black comedy written by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, and on stage now through January 28 at SecondStory Repertory in Redmond. This production, directed by Alicia Mendez, stars Sara Trowbridge and Andrew Shanks as couple Annette and Alan, and Christina Williams and Scot Charles Anderson as Veronica and Michael.
As the story goes, boys Benjamin and Henry had gotten into an altercation at school, the end result being that Henry has lost two of his teeth. How exactly that happened, who is ultimately to blame, and what should be done about it are just a few of the topics of conversation that the pairs of parents discuss when sitting down together in Veronica and Michael’s living room. The boys’ parents can’t be more different. On Benjamin’s side, father Alan is a lawyer, constantly on his phone trying to juggle his latest case and the conversation at hand, while Henry’s father Michael is a wholesaler, himself also juggling, but he is dealing with the care of his sick mother in addition to said conversation. Wives Annette and Veronica are as different from each other as their husbands are, Annette in wealth management, and Veronica who is an author, currently writing a book on the atrocities in Darfur. The thought behind the meeting is that the parents should be able to constructively discuss how to move forward, despite any ongoing animosity between their children. It starts off well enough, but as the night progresses and the adults’ walls start to come down (aided both by alcohol and conflicting priorities), the conversation starts to go sideways. The fun of this show is watching the fluidity of the parents’ allegiances, not just learning how they feel about the incident between their boys and what should be done about it, but watching how they express it. It is truly a dark comedy, it’s jaw dropping at times and laugh out loud funny at others, and while all of this is going on, the audience is left asking themselves what each one of them would do if this scenario was pressed upon them.
A show like God of Carnage is all about the delivery. It requires actors who have mastered the material and feel what they are doing. The emotions have to come across as real and the interactions need to feel natural. As a result, the design of the set doesn’t need to be altogether complex, but needs to be constructed in a way to support the plot. The show’s Production Designer Mark Chenovick obviously got the memo, and while the set is simple, it’s designed to work with the amount of movement in the show. The parents, after all, do not just sit on the couch and talk, but as emotions increase, they get up, walk around, get a drink (or three), and otherwise move about the living room area. Looking at the set itself, another thing I was struck by is the coordination and symmetry of the design. The furniture felt right, the colors modern, and the layout exactly what you’d expect from Veronica and Michael. It’s not just random set pieces collected from storage and placed on stage, it feels constructed purposely for this show. This production has a feel that Mark set the stage and let Alicia and her cast run with the story, and run they do.
This cast is fully on board with how this show needs to be performed. Other than a few opening night hiccups (quickly overcome), the cast handled the dialogue easily, and there is a lot of dialogue to deal with. Interactions are quick, there’s no waiting for someone to finish a sentence before starting the next, and reactions feel natural. In order to squeeze the humor out of this, along with the emotion of the content, all of these components are necessary, and they’re all here. Each member of this group knows his or her character as well. For instance, Andrew Shanks is Alan in this production, and he’s got the overworked, overmotivated lawyer down. He’s also good at talking on the phone. What sounds like a throw away ability is harder than one might think. Phone calls on stage are one sided, so when someone is speaking, they need to use the right amount of delay to make it seem like there’s someone on the other end also speaking. It’s easy to go too quickly, or draw it out too much, but not here. Andrew’s wife Annette is played by Sara Trowbridge. Sara’s Annette is perhaps the most genuine of the characters in God of Carnage, caught in the middle between her husband, his client, and the situation they’re all trying to deal with. On the other side of the couch are Christina Williams and Scot Charles Anderson, Veronica and Michael respectively. Christina’s Veronica comes across as judgy and a bit aloof, but has a firm stance on how she believes the situation should be handed. She is wonderful here, as is Scot as the frustrated salesman, but it’s when she, along with Sara’s Annette, start to drink that each of these actors show their comedic chops. I thoroughly enjoyed watching each of the actors in this group shift their stance, mood, and behavior throughout the show. It’s quite fun to watch.
God of Carnage is a healthy mix of humor and levity, serious conversations about a real situation that seem to go sideways when the booze starts to flow, but ones that also shine a light on the walls that we build up in the name of social decorum and what lies beneath them when those walls start to come down. It’s a show that shines when its cast is capable, and the SecondStory Rep production has a cast that is more than up to the task. It’s a show that’ll make you gasp, laugh, and all the while give an introspective look at what you might do in a similar situation.
God of Carnage runs onstage at SecondStory Repertory through January 28. For more information, including tickets, visit https://www.secondstoryrep.org. Note that this show contains adult language and situations and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
