A Bumpy Kind of Carnage

×

Expand

Photo by Jeremy C. Welter

Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage is an admirably earthbound, little one-act drama. Two pairs of parents confront each other over a physical altercation that took place between their sons. In the course of 90 minutes without intermission, four people travel a perilously short distance between civility and its opposite.

Despite the superficial simplicity of the premise, Reza’s script is quite a challenge for any four actors. The current production with Off the Wall Theatre demonstrates precisely how difficult a script like God of Carnage can be. Jeremy C. Welter and Donna Lobacz play the parents of a child who has injured the child of parents played by Michelle White and Max Williamson. At any one moment, about half of Off the Wall’s ensemble is doing a sharp and clever job of rendering an interesting dynamic while the other half flops about a bit lifelessly. The two best performances at any given moment aren’t always from the same actors, nor from the actors that happen to be talking to each other.

Everyone in the cast has a brilliant moment at some point in the script, but the overall dramatic integrity of the play requires that a much more fluid four-part dramatic energy be maintained throughout the show. The dynamic flow of the drama remains inconsistently staccato throughout. It’s kind of a bumpy ride, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This play outlines a very awkward moment between four people who are all lying to themselves and others about something. Opening up about those lies and fabrications isn’t pretty. It can be downright uncomfortable. It’s unfortunate for Off the Wall that this particular staging of that kind of interaction isn’t more charmingly uncomfortable.

Off the Wall Theatre’s production of God of Carnage runs through March 1. For ticket reservations, call 414-327-3552.