Review: Civility Crumbles, Comedy Reigns in Zoetic Stage’s ‘God of Carnage’

Iain Batchelor, Sarah Rome Guerra, and Justin Packard in Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage” at the Arsht Center through Sunday, Nov. 22. (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

The adults in Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage” have gathered to settle a playground fight between their sons.

Right off the top is a small hint of what’s to come and it arrives in a subtle back and forth over the wording of what happened. Was 11-year-old Benjamin Raleigh “armed” with a stick or “furnished” with a stick? “Furnished” is the agreed-upon, more civil, description.

While it’s the teeth-knocked-out fight in the schoolyard that brings two affluent couples together in the course of the 90-minute play, the Novaks’ living room becomes their playground, while each one takes turns at being a bully. The premise is that this is a breakdown of facades, and what lies beneath when the gloves come off.

Sarah Rome Guerra as Veronica starts to breakdown as Justin Packard as Michael and Iain Batchelor as Alan watch her. (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

Alan Raleigh (a wonderfully affected and smarmy Iain Batchelor) is a lawyer for a pharmaceutical company facing reports of dangerous side effects. He airs his public relations position loudly on call after call in his hosts’ home. When he says early on that he has no manners, the calls make the point for him.

The play is sharpest when it exposes the gap between the characters’ self-image and their behavior. Veronica Novak (a perfectly wound-too-tight Sarah Rome Guerra) presents herself as a writer and a defender of high-minded causes, describing work on the civilization of Sheba and the Darfur tragedy. Yet her casual remark about getting tulips from a “little Korean deli” pokes holes in that cultivated image.

Michael (an awkwardly earnest Justin Packard recalling Steve Carell here), her husband, sells household goods wholesale. The differences between each couple, and each spouse for that matter, are established quickly, though the weakness of the play is that the characters rarely develop much beyond initial outlines.

Michael (Justin Packard) tries to Alan’s (Iain Batchelor) cell phone back in working order in Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage.”  (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

That is where this work falls short of Reza’s hit “Art,” her 1994 play and written 12 years before “God of Carnage.” Both plays begin with a seemingly small dispute that exposes something larger. In “Art,” the argument over a white painting draws on the history and loyalties of a long friendship. Here, the parents’ quarrel exposes marital strains and social hypocrisy.

The boys never appear, leaving the adults’ accounts of them to drive the action. The offstage sons become a reason for the adults to reveal themselves. Michael’s story about taking his nine-year-old daughter Camille’s noisy hamster outside and leaving it in a drain becomes a running joke that opens a crack between him and Veronica.

Later, when Annette (a gradually unraveling Jordyn Moone) vomits over Veronica’s treasured art books, Michael helps his wife clean them. The moment offers a glimpse of tenderness amid the couples’ worsening conflicts.

Justin Packard shows off some incredible physical comedy in Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage.” (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

Praise to director Stuart Meltzer and his staging as he turns the escalation into a physical circus with an ensemble of actors who are up for the task. Packard’s Michael turns into an alpha male, Guerra’s Veronica gets too friendly with a bottle of aged rum, giving her freedom to unleash pent-up grievances in her marriage.

Packard’s physical comedy is a highlight. When Michael strips off his shirt and spends the rest of the play in a tank top, he takes on the Neanderthal quality the men joke about. The transition helps push the evening from strained politeness into a complete circus of physicality.

Moone and Batchelor have one of the best choreographed physical scenes as they scrap over the cellphone that has put a wedge in their marriage.

Meltzer’s direction also sets up the conflict in his staging. With two couches on either side, the characters’ alliances shift with the seating: sometimes the couples face off, sometimes the men sit against the women, and sometimes the pairings cross the marriages.

Jordyn Moone as Annette delights in getting rid of the annoying cell phone that Iain Batchelor’s Alan can’t keep away from. (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

Michael McKeever’s set establishes an affluent home, with stone walls, art books, two couches and a vivid glass sculpture that recalls Chihuly. The large glowing blue circle on the back wall recalls an abyss that the couples seem to be falling into.

Becky Montero’s lighting and Bailey Hacker’s sound design add to the atmosphere, while Nicole Quintana’s props and set dressing help establish the Novaks’ home.

Debbie Richardson’s costumes reinforce the characters’ personas, particularly Veronica’s dowdy dress and Annette’s Wall Street-ish business attire.

Michael McKeever’s set design for Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage.” (Photo by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center)

The ensemble gives each character a distinct presence, even when the writing leaves them thin. Meltzer’s broad physical staging supplies the play’s momentum and its biggest laughs. This works best as a performance play, a comic spectacle of adults losing control.

There’s also a lesson in civility with a message: a fight may begin with a stick, but it hardly ever stays there.

WHAT: Zoetic Stage’s “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton

WHERE: Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami

WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, through Sunday, Nov. 22.

COST: $66.69–$72.54, including fees.

INFORMATION: (305) 949-6722 and zoeticstage.org

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