“God of Carnage” Lives Up to Its Name at Le Petit Theatre

It is with good reason that Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” was an international hit the moment it was first performed on the French stage in 2006. The dark comedy quickly went global when Christopher Hampton’s translated adaptation took the world by storm with a 2008 opening in London to rave reviews, then swift staging to Broadway acclaim the following year. And yet, Le Petit Theatre showcases this snappy satire with a tour de force production to unexpected levels—expertly managing to throw in some surprising spins, even for those who’ve seen this play in multiple productions over the past two decades.

The plot of “God of Carnage” is simple. Two sets of type-A Brooklyn, New York parents—wealth manager Annentte (Julie Lake) and corporate defense attorney Alan Raleigh (Conrad Ricamora) are meeting at the home of socially active writer Veronica (Marie Lovejoy) and plumbing wholesaler Michael Novak (Joshua Mark Sienkiewicz) to civilly resolve a playground dispute between their sons in their swanky Cobble Hill neighborhood. The play opens with their calmly finalizing the softening of “inflammatory language” in an agreement to resolve the matter without further contention. But the end of the agreement is the beginning of the carnage.

Civility quickly goes by the wayside as parting words evolve into parsing words. Tone and attitude disintegrate rapidly. The last shreds of civility are dissolved once Michael pours his upscale rum in the ill-conceived spirit of celebratory reconciliation. With the most hilarious of actions and reactions, the four parents regress to their most basic, core inner children, making their sons’ fight seem positively mature by comparison. Often changing alliances—even between spouses—through the one-act extravaganza, the humor is less about laughing at the four characters and more about audiences laughing at themselves, with all the characters’ behaviors being relatable in one way or another. And that is the brilliance of Reza’s play.

Le Petit’s version is masterful in the reimagining of the script. The words are no different than any other, but Reza and Hapton’s script leaves much room for interpretation, action, set design and levels of anger, hysteria and all other bad behaviors. The show’s creative team, led by artistic director A.J. Allegra with scenic designs from Bethany Lee, as well as assistant director Joshua J. Rodriguez, stage manager Sarah Chatelain and assistant stage manager Sara Clawson, all knock it out of the park, allowing the actors to seemingly just go wild. Many productions have this latitude, but this staging elevates the material to new heights beyond expectation. Lines are delivered with sly double entendre enhanced with clever non-verbals—many overtly hilarious, but some subtle enough that audiences need to pay attention to almost every raised eyebrow and quietly swirling finger to truly understand the subtext.

Broadway veterans Lake and Ricamora make the most of their shared sidelong looks and disparity in their respective frustrations over work-life balance where their son is involved. Likewise, Lovejoy and Sienkiewicz are painfully joyous to watch as they devolve, sometimes gleeful at how low each other will go.

Even if you think you’ve seen this play before—and especially if you have not—do not miss this version.

NOTE: If you’ve seen the movie adaptation, it does not count—pretend it does not exist because it sucked every bit of humor and chemistry out of the play, and this will remind audiences why live theatre is such an important contribution to the arts.

SPOILER ALERT: Audience members in the first two rows may want a raincoat. But it’s even funnier if you don’t—especially for the rest of the audience. Just sayin.’

“God of Carnage” is playing at Le Petit Theatre through May 17.

“God of Carnage” at Le Petit Theatre, by Brittney Werner