Civility and manners are nice, but when you can’t agree to disagree, it’s time to evoke the inner animal that kept our ancestors alive.
Albuquerque’s only professional theater company practicing Equity theater, FUSION, fought hard for the rights to stage “Le Dieu du Carnage,” a piece by award-winning French playwright Yasmina Reza.
The play has been performed in precious few other theatres, and is especially rare in the States.
Professional theater comes at a cost, with The Cell’s general ticket price set at $30, which can be a bit steep for the average Albuquerque theatre patron. This rendition, however, is worth it.
The production perfectly captures Reza’s darkly humorous portrait of two middle-class couples descending into conflict after their children do the same.
A comedy of disappearing manners, “The God of Carnage” first shows us the couples at their civil best, then delights in peeling away the layers of deception and superficiality.
The two couples ostensibly meet to discuss how best to deal with their children after one wounds the other in a playground scuffle. Differences of opinion on how best to address the situation and resulting minutiae build to farcical chaos.
The production is consummately cast: Each actor finds the ugliness and tragedy of their characters, in addition to the riotous humor.
Paul Blott, as Alan Raleigh, a father not at all concerned with disciplining his child, is truly a pleasure to watch as a work-obsessed lawyer utterly bemused with the situation, which is made worse by his detachment.
Jacqueline Reid, as the wounded child’s mother, Veronica, is unafraid of exploring her character’s shrewish passive-aggression with unexpected comic drive.
The two more passive spouses, Veronica’s husband Michael, played by Bruce Holmes, and Alan’s wife Annette, played by Laurie Thomas, start off largely as pawns but eventually come into their own in fierce, hilarious ways as the afternoon progresses. Reza’s script offers each character moments of high comedy and drama, and The Cell Theatre’s production, as directed by Gil Lazier, misses none of them.
Though undoubtedly hilarious, the audience may wonder what it all means. While Reza is notorious for leaving interpretation up to the audience, Richard Hogle’s subtle scenic design may leave a big clue.
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The tiger print on the back wall and leopard skin carpeting first seem gaudy and unrealistic. However, as the parents reveal their own childish, primal selves, one realizes that Hogle’s design merely emphasizes the animal inherent in us all. Reza’s play deals with the age-old literary conflict of “man-versus-nature,” finding a great deal of humor instead of a clear winner.
Having seen the original English language production on the West End, and hearing about the Tony-winning Broadway version, I wondered how Reza’s play might fare without the considerable star power both productions employed. The Cell Theatre makes clear, however, that even without a Ralph Fiennes or a James Gandolfini, the play is a fantastic romp.
“GOD OF CARNAGE”
The Cell Theatre
700 1st St. NW
Thursday through Saturday 8 pm
Saturday matinee 2 pm
Sunday 6 pm
Runs through Sept. 4th
(Santa Fe Performances at the Santa Fe Armoury Sept. 2nd & 3rd)
$30 General ticket, $25 Students & Seniors
www.liveatthecell.com
