On Saturday evening, I went to see God of Carnage. After a break for summer (and yachts, I'm sure there were yachts), the original B'way cast has returned to continue the run, until one of them gets on Tony Soprano's nerves and he has them killed.
Going into the show, I knew the basic gist of the plot, the impressive cast members, and that the show had received good reviews and a slew of Tony nominations/awards.
Which is why I was so disappointed that it wasn't, ummm -- better?
A few things rubbed me the wrong way, some of which may be personal hang-ups, so let's start a list:
Going into the show, I knew the basic gist of the plot, the impressive cast members, and that the show had received good reviews and a slew of Tony nominations/awards.
Which is why I was so disappointed that it wasn't, ummm -- better?
A few things rubbed me the wrong way, some of which may be personal hang-ups, so let's start a list:
- The play is short. About 90 minutes, with no intermission. I know nobody's supposed to have an attention span anymore, but seriously - if I make a night of going to see a show, I want it to take up a decent chunk of the night. As I said, a matter of personal preference, but for the prices being charged for these tickets, a short show can feel like a rip-off to me. More on this later. Oh, and they started the show around 8:14 (!!!) To make it seem longer? Because a 5 minute grace period is no longer enough? Boo.
- I'm more than a bit bored by playwrights using alcohol as a deux ex machina to advance the plot. "Oh, they're talking, they're fighting, things are heating up -- how much more exciting it would be if they were all DRUNK! Then I could write whatever crazy dialogue and staging I wanted and people would buy it!" I'm aware that people drink, especially and often in social situations. I'm also aware that while I don't drink, ~103% of people in NY do. I don't give a shit if playwrights include it, except when it seems like such an obvious crutch. And it does here. It results in the desired/predictable mayhem, which is amusing, but it feels like lazy writing.
- Hope Davis' character, Annette, reminded me a bit too much of Honey from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I mean, the two characters' personalities are nothing alike. I think it was more the combination of blonde hair and puking, in tandem with 4 adults torturing each other in a living room while drinking...again, probably my own mental connections.
Anywho, the acting really is terrific. Marcia Gay Harden and Ton--ah, James Gandolfini make a wonderfully miserable couple, and Jeff Daniels is all too believable as a work-crazed lawyer. The simple set is quite functional, and is used resourcefully throughout. The storyline provides a great foundation, and builds to reveal quite taboo reactions and confessions from the characters.
But here's where we get back to the question of length. The play is going along, doing anything and everything for shock value, which the audience happily accepts and encourages, laughing and gasping all the while, and then it just...kind of ends. But it isn't really an ending. The actors do a damn fine job with the time and material they've been given, but the script doesn't lead to the place they deserve to go. Rather, the actors (and audience) feel like they've been abandoned somewhere unfamiliar in the middle of the night.
But here's where we get back to the question of length. The play is going along, doing anything and everything for shock value, which the audience happily accepts and encourages, laughing and gasping all the while, and then it just...kind of ends. But it isn't really an ending. The actors do a damn fine job with the time and material they've been given, but the script doesn't lead to the place they deserve to go. Rather, the actors (and audience) feel like they've been abandoned somewhere unfamiliar in the middle of the night.
@ the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
242 W 45th Street
