AstonRep Theatre Company Presents GOD OF CARNAGE Review – Team Human

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“…I’M A NEANDERTHAL!!!”

So rages Mike Novak (played by Mike Newquist) with eyes and neck veins bulging as he circles the vomit-sullied living room couch.  He is half crouching, reminding us of a hunter in the Amazon stalking prey.   But this is America circa now, and we can imagine that if a gun happened to be on the coffee table , instead of a vase overflowing with tulips, his wife Veronica would be shot dead.  Or perhaps, he would use a military-style weapon to also mow down their guests, darker complected Alan and Annette (played by Mark Tacderas.and Maggie Antonijevic), parents of a child who injured their son in a schoolyard skirmish.

Sound like a scene of high drama?  It might be if it weren’t part of playwright Yasmina Reza’s sardonic script that step-by-step takes the wrappers off civility to reveal the naked apes we are.  We aren’t cringing in fear as he rages at his wife Veronica (played by Kathleen O'Brien).  We’re actually laughing!  Some of us – and at that point in the play it’s likely more the men in the crowd — might also be smirking that he’s really putting it to his insufferably holier-than-thou spouse.  She seems to think her work on behalf of Darfur victims somehow elevates her. We see her though as just one more specimen of humans-so-lacking that the titular God of Carnage rules.

It’s Veronica’s quest for civility that has put this unlikely gathering together. Her thought is that the parents of the two boys who had this brawl should show their offspring ---and the world--- how adults rise above it all to settle momentary conflict.  Tensions bubble and then roil when alcohol is added, rendering the tidy living room a war zone.  Long suffering spouses –and that’s everyone in the room—let ‘er rip.

The brilliance of this script, in this writer’s view, is the speed at with Reza’s story makes and breaks alliances between spouses, genders, and others.  It’s a laugh-soaked whiplash all the way. If you have any inclination to be a referee, you will likely throw up your hands when you realize the impossibility of keeping score.  This is team human—everyone on the same team and everyone losing.

AstonRep Theatre Returns to its Roots

We learn from the program that this play was produced by AstonRep nine seasons ago and that they chose God of Carnage for their return to live performance.  This reviewer thinks co-directors Derek Bertelsen & Robert Tobin and the able cast** do a great service by bringing this gem from Yasmina Reza to life.  Lovers of multi-layered scripts and dark comedy should make this a top pick for their time.

Cast:

Maggie Antonijevic (Annette), Mike Newquist (Michael), Erin Kathleen O'Brien* (Veronica) and Mark Tacderas (Alan). Understudies: Claire Allegra Taylor.

Production team:

Jeremiah Barr* (scenic/props design, technical director), Uriel Gomez (costume design), Becca Venable (lighting design), Robert Tobin* (sound design), Samantha Barr* (production manager) and Heather Branham (stage manager).

WHEN:

Thru December 12, 2021
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.

WHERE:

Edge Off-Broadway Theater
1133 W. Catalpa Ave.
Chicago.

TICKETS:

$20+

For tickets visit the astonrep website.

Photos by Paul Goyette.

Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago.