by Carolyn Hayes Harmer

Article: 9568; Posted: April 11, 2015 at x:00 p.m.

The winner of both a Laurence Olivier Award for best new comedy and a Tony Award for best play, Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” (translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton) artfully poses the theory that childishness is best left to the grown-ups. Two Muses Theatre, operating from its converted space within a West Bloomfield chain bookstore, gives the claws-out, cutting-edge text plenty of bark and some diffident bite.

Under Nancy Kammer’s direction, this blistering single-act play hits its highs not when its characters wound each other at opposites, but rather when they flail alone.

A posh formal living room fills the stage, the kind of surroundings that bring the term “first-world problems” galloping to mind. And the homeowners do not disappoint: übermensch Veronica (Diane Hill) and forceful Michael (Joe Bailey) exude privilege and culture beyond the stark modern set (Bill Mandt), sophisticated lighting (Lucy Meyo), and just-so properties (Hill and Mandt). Indeed, when we first meet them, the two are busy lording their enlightened benevolence over proper Annette (Heidi Bennett) and distracted Alan (Tobin Hissong), their penitent houseguests.

The reason for this summit is the couples’ respective eleven-year-old sons: it seems the boys were bickering at the park, when one bashed the other’s face with a stick. But what’s at stake isn’t who will repair a few mangled teeth; in this world, anybody can pay for dental work. Rather, the real issue is fostering a respectful and productive dialogue between the two playmates.

But then the issue becomes ensuring that all parties are properly and legitimately sorry. And then the issue becomes getting all the details to determine which child is the real bad guy. As the adults’ forced civility peels back to reveal naked volatility, the issue becomes name-calling, accusations of all stripes, and playing dirty with every available card on the table.

The play unfolds as one long scene in a single arc, a high-wire act for any ensemble. Here, the players refrain from excessive gorging on the vicious comedy and backbiting, letting awkward punch-lines and wryly ironic pauses speak for themselves as the ever-rising action hiccups higher. The whole enterprise churns with moving parts: desserts, drinks, dishes, cleanup, and precious coffee table books take the form of a precision operation. The cumulative effect is of constant motion, including chessboard-strategy blocking as the characters perform irrational about-faces, changing allegiances on a whim.

Although this ensemble generally fares well with the show’s high degree of difficulty, the occasional lull creeps in; a viewer would be forgiven for occasionally wondering what’s forcing these people to stay trapped together (other than the script). Although the conflict here is rich and abundant, some of the production’s greatest moments come when the characters drift away from the stilted main conversation. In particular, Hissong shines in his portrayal of a self-important, stupendously disaffected corporate lawyer who answers to none but his cell phone.

This “God of Carnage” aims to pit animal instinct against the better angels of our nature. But in this test of the fight-or-flight reflex, the “flight” gets in just as many comic barbs as the “fight.”

Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission).

SHOW DETAILS:
God of Carnage
Two Muses Theatre
6800 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield (south of Maple)
April 10-26; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
Price: $20 General Admission/$18 Students and seniors
248-850-9919
www.twomusestheatre.org