Review: GOD OF CARNAGE at Whippoorwill Hall Is an Audience Pleaser

Pictured from left: Alvin Keith as Michael, Claire Karpen as Veronica, Brenda Withers as Annette, Jordan Lage as Alan [Photo by Owen Strock @owstrock]

Remember the two couples in Edward Albee’s stage classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Of course you do. We all do. In Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award Best Play winner God of Carnage (presented in Armonk by Katonah Classic Stage through May 12) there are echoes of that unforgettable foursome’s high-stakes wordplay that doubles as swordplay – the compelling thrust and parry of mutually dependent mockery, accusations, passive-aggressiveness, bravado, pretension, insecurities laid bare. 

Both works give us an insightful, no-holds-barred glimpse at what can happen when our frontal cortex (the better angels) yields to our lizard brain (the titular god of carnage). 

Here, in place of George, Martha, Nick, and Honey, we eavesdrop on Veronica and Michael Novak (played by Alvin Keith and Claire Karpen), and Annette and Alan Raleigh (Jordan Lage and Brenda Withers). 

At rise, we see ice queen Annette and starchy corporate lawyer Alan sitting stiffly in the living room of chill Michael and Karen-like Veronica. On behalf of their son Henry, Michael and Veronica are seeking an apology from Annette and Alain’s 11-year-old son Benjamin, who, during a playground kerfuffle, has hit Henry in the mouth with a stick, causing dental damage that is under treatment. 

CHILDREN OF ALL AGES
That’s what the narrative is on the surface. The real bloodletting occurs with what lurks beneath. Rather than being about the two young children (who are neither seen nor heard), the story is about four grownup children whose behavior can be borderline obscene -- although Michael seems the most sober, even when he breaks out – yo ho ho – a bottle of rum that really revs up the action.

Even though the couples have somewhat different takes on how reparations for Henry should be handled, their negotiations alternate between civility and mutual disregard. 

Not unlike the slowly boiling frog that doesn’t rescue itself in time from its fate, these four head down a roller coaster of a rabbit hole thar nauseates Annette (kudos to Ms. Withers and director Trent Dawson for the all-too-convincing stagecraft of her projectile aria). 

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf comes to mind while enjoying God of Carnage, but Ms. Reza’s rip-roaring piece is classified as something nobody would call Mr. Albee’s sadomasochistic diatribe – a comedy. That’s a testament not only to Ms. Reza’s playwriting prowess, but also to the high-performing cast, and to Mr. Dawson, who knows how to draw succor from the constant comedic beats that course through both the text and the subtext. In his and the cast’s supple hands, even a wordless slow burn or steely glare elicited hearty laughter from the appreciative audience I was among on opening night. 

ANIMUS IS US
The friction is not just between the two sets of parents defending their children, but also between each husband and wife. The animus Is always present, lurking like kindling that’s waiting for the slightest spark to inflame a short-lived cease-fire. 

In fact, at one point or another – whether it’s Alan’s lifeblood in the form of a cellphone or Annette’s hoisting him with his own petard or Veronica just being Veronica – each of these characters could be accused of acting like a flaming you-know-what. In other words, in their base instinct to go on the attack whenever the opportunity arises, they are no different from the rest of us. Michael: “What I always say is marriage is the most terrible ordeal God can inflict on you. And children.” 

As play progresses, this fearsome foursome keep finding new things to argue about that have nothing to do with why they are meeting. They’ll cross swords over whatever low-hanging fruit is there for the berating -- hamsters, cellphones, their livelihoods (Michael wholesales toilet fittings), the battle of the sexes –  and they’ll push each other’s buttons over fraught words like crude and armed. Who wouldn’t recognize the interpersonal phenomenon of a minor disagreement feeding on itself until it metastasizes into hellfire. As hot-blooded Veronica points out,  “Behaving well gets you nowhere. Courtesy is a waste.”

TRANSFORMATIVE PERFORMANCES
That boiling frog analogy really rears its twitchy head in the slyly-executed transformation of the characters, most notably Alan. At first preoccupied with a client crisis that keeps his cellphone endlessly humming, the self-possessed lawyer can barely deign to participate in sorting out the child’s play that has brought together the two unlike-minded couples. He floats above it all, for the most part. But by the time he’s disabused of his phone fetish, he’s nearly unrecognizable, moaning, prone against a wall, slack-jawed, a sorry sight altogether. Jordan Lage does a wonderful job of shape-shifting to create the illusion of the once-mighty, now-fallen Alan. 

Each cast member excels in creating a strong, distinct persona that adds up to a sizzling ensemble. Energetic, frenetic Claire Karpen gives Veronica a lot of kick, amping up her role with abundant nerve and verve. Alvin Keith serves as a kind of one-man Greek chorus, taking it all in, almost from a distance, by turns amused and bemused by what he surveys. 

As wealth manager Annette, Brenda Withers also expertly handles her character arc, evolving from coolly elegant to railing against the sorry state of men and their shoulder bags, and allowing herself a rum-fueled floral rampage. 

How did these four go from proper to unglued? Michael will take this one: “Children consume our lives… and then destroy them.” 

The production’s handsome living room set is by Jess Fitzpatrick, with Lighting by Riley Cavanaugh and Sound by John Gromada. Stage Manager is Lauren Jackson. Assistant Director is Analisa Pisano. Assistant Stage Manager is Abigail Wilson. Eric Zoback is Technical Director. 

For showtimes, tickets and other information, katonahclassicstage.com, Info@KatonahClassicStage.com, 844-527-7469.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For showtimes, tickets and other information, katonahclassicstage.com, Info@KatonahClassicStage.com, 844-527-7469.

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