By: Skip Sheffield
BOCA RATON — The funny thing is, the “God of Carnage” is in each one of us.
No, it isn’t really funny, but that seems to be the message inherent in this play running through May 15 at Caldwell Theatre Company, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton.
“Carnage” was written by French playwright Yasmina Reza and translated into English by Christopher Hampton.
Reza was an actress first and somewhat of a specialist on Moliere. The actor-playwright who called himself Moliere wrote some of the greatest comedies — not just of French literature, but all Western Literature.
Moliere was always poking fun at human frailties, shortcomings and delusions in what came to be known as “comedy of manners.”
So Yasmina Reza is also spoofing the allegedly civilized and polite married couples in what is cleverly billed as “a comedy of manners without the manners.”
There is some very unpleasant stuff going on in “Carnage.” The big task is to make it funny while it stings.
Under the leadership of guest director Kenneth Kay, who is no stranger to Caldwell, the laughs have been found and conveyed by a top-flight cast.
Kim Cozort is no stranger to Caldwell either, nor to Ken Kay, who happens to be her husband.
Cozort is Veronica, a pretentious and somewhat self-satisfied woman who is trying to be little Miss Perfect as a mother, an artist and do-gooder who is writing a book about the chaotic state of Darfur in Africa.
Veronica is married to Alan (Nick Santa Maria), a high-powered corporate lawyer for a pharmaceutical company. Alan is one of those annoying guys whose cell phone is always going off, and even more annoyingly, he always answers it regardless of what else is going on.
Kim Ostrenko (Annette), Nick Santa Maria (Alan), Kim Cozort (Vernica) and Michael Serratore (Michael).
In this case, it is a meeting between Veronica and Alan and Michael (Michael Serratore in his Caldwell debut as a blue-collar but social-climbing hardware salesman) and Annette (returning actress Kim Ostrenko, pulling out the stops in heroic fashion).
The matter at hand is a fight between the two couples’ 11-year-old sons, resulting in the loss of two teeth of one of the boys. The boys are never seen; only referred to. What at first seems to be a golden opportunity for apology and reconciliation quickly turns into a battle of one-upmanship, verbal insults, snide remarks and class warfare. As a rum bottle is passed around and tongues are loosened, the true nature and hypocrisy of each character is revealed.
Pulling this off in a comical matter is tricky business indeed. In fact, there is a bit of business involving Kim Ostrenko’s high-strung character that is guaranteed to grab your attention and hold it from then on.
“Carnage” is performed without intermission and the action unfolds very quickly as in traditional French farce. This is not a banging-doors farce, but more a verbal farce though, performed in perfect concert. As alliances shift, it goes from us-against-them to boys against girls.
In short, as Kay says in his director’s notebook, it is adults behaving like children. The marvel of this show is that the characters don’t come off as idiots, even though they may be behaving idiotically.
None of this would work without Tim Bennett’s truly nifty sets, Thomas Shorrock’s lighting illuminations and Dustin Hamilton’s spot-on sound effects. In short it is a well-oiled, smooth-running laugh machine with keen social, political and economic implications. No wonder it was declared Best Play at the 2009 Tony Awards.
Tickets are $38-$50. Call 561-241-7432 or visit www.caldwelltheatre.com.