‘God Of Carnage’ Review: Civility Deconstructed In Southampton

Ever been in what starts out as a friendly dialogue over a bone of contention and—before you can blink—it blows up, old grievances are aired, feelings heretofore hidden are revealed, and you end up where you never thought you would be, all the while feeling justified but stunned at the unfortunate turn of events?

Such a brushfire of words and emotions is the heat at the center of “God of Carnage,” currently staged at the Southampton Cultural Center through October 30. SCC’s resident director, Michael Disher, has assembled a smart and quick quartet of actors to bring us this award-winning comedy of comportment and confession.

Mr. Disher’s nimble direction keeps us engaged and laughing over a fast-paced 80 minutes. You walk away remembering the time that you—a normally reasonable, calm and upright individual, of course—might have been engaged in just such a folly of human frailty at some point that playwright Yasmina Reza wrote.

Four oh-so-civilized adults—two sets of parents of two different mindsets—gather in a Brooklyn apartment to come to some arrangement over the damage done to one couple’s son by the other. Teeth have been lost. Instead of a lawsuit, the mother of the injured son, Veronica Novak (Catherine Maloney), has prepared a statement about what happened. She reads it … but wait! Must she say the errant son was “armed” with a stick? How about “furnished”? Wouldn’t that be, uh, better?

The fun begins.

The four actors—excellent all—romp through the dialogue as if they are kids playing in the sand as the layers of civility are ripped off, and everything but teeth bared. Who threw the first handful of sand into another’s eyes is debatable.

The upper-middle-class Raleighs are all smooth-and-polish business—he’s a lawyer, she’s a wealth manager—and while the earthy Novaks—obviously of Slavic backgrounds and not so upper middle-class—are the down-to-earth do-gooders. Well, maybe not both of them; Michael might be less than a liberal. Far less. Maybe actually a Neanderthal operating at near visceral level.

In real life, these four people would be unlikely friends, even if their sons go to the same (probably) private school. Before the time is up, espresso, clafouti and rum will be served, vomiting will commence, pillows will be thrown, and admissions never intended to be spoken will find breath. All this happens in between the hilarious and contemporary dealings attorney Alan tends to on his cell over several phone calls that interrupt the interaction among the four.

Sag Harbor resident John Leonard brings real-life experience to the role of Alan Raleigh. Mr. Leonard is an attorney in private practice. On stage, he’s not quite the scorched-earth killer you expect him to be.

Some drug from a company Alan represents has been trashed in the New York Times as having side effects that will be disastrous to his client’s bottom line. After several phone calls, Alan’s last piece of advice to the person on the other end of the call couldn’t be more current: “A blanket denial and, if necessary, attack the newspaper.”

Edward Kassar as the tamed Neanderthal, Michael Novak, is a standout in the cast as he throws off his outer casing of barely there refinement. Mr. Kassar, seen last year at SCC as the ridiculous one-legged lover in “Sordid Lives,” makes you think he would be kind of a lovable oaf if you met him at some cocktail party.

Frances Sherman, whose work at SCC is frequent and always notable, rounds out the cast as Annette Raleigh. Here Ms. Sherman has dyed her luxurious mane of long dark hair platinum blonde, a generous act of theater. Her overall effect is to make her character as pointed as an icepick, composed as a formal arrangement of roses—until she’s not. The thorns were not removed before delivery.

While the 2006 play is contemporary, the only off note is the topic of the book the liberal Veronica Novak has written: “Darfur.” The headline-grabbing ethnic cleansing that occurred there was in 2003, and today the reference seems dated and consequently is less humorous than it could be. Naturally, Veronica would be writing about the very latest crisis in Africa, far from her safe perch in Cobble Hill. Instead of Darfur, Boko Haram would punch up the script. Since the play was originally written in French and premiered in Germany, and then brought to Broadway in 2009 with some minor changes, this should be an easy fix—with the playwright’s permission.

But that’s a small nit to pick. Mr. Disher and his stable of actors and set crew deliver a droll but thoughtful drama with polish.

“God of Carnage” continues at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane, Southampton, through October 30. Showtimes are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $22 for adults. and $12 for students under 21 with ID. Dinner and theater packages are available for $59. Call 631-287-4377 or visit scc-arts.org.