Granted, “God of Carnage” won this year’s Tony for Best Play, but what everybody remembers isn’t so much its plot as its stars: Led by James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, they simply transcended the show.
That much became clear last night, when the play officially “reopened” with a new cast: Author Yasmina Reza may well have kissed her award bye-bye without Harden & Co.
“God of Carnage” is deceptively basic, with no special effects — other than that infamous projectile vomiting. There are only four actors, playing a pair of married couples, and they’re the ones who must deliver. Indeed, they have to be in almost psychic sync as they plow through a minefield of verbal and physical humor.
Never mind telepathy: The new crew at the Bernard B. Jacobs merely telegraphs.
The starting point is as simple as could be. Veronica and Michael (Christine Lahti and Ken Stott, in the parts created by Harden and Gandolfini) are hosting peace negotiations with Annette and Alan (Annie Potts and Jimmy Smits, following Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels). Their kids got in a brawl, and the educated, upper-middle-class parents are “processing” the event.
The actors take it slow during this observation round. That’s fine, but they don’t accelerate enough when the initial chitchat gives way to altercations that escalate into insults and even fisticuffs.
The glassy-eyed Potts doesn’t deviate from a monotone, and Smits fails to convince as a lawyer who keeps making loud cellphone calls. When he declares, “I have no manners,” he’s almost endearingly self-deprecating instead of smug.
The play’s hardly a model of subtlety — Reza isn’t above pulling basic tricks to score laughs, which is a good thing — and so it’s especially important for the cast to go full throttle.
Harden and Gandolfini, in particular, pulled off that trick beautifully.
But too often Stott (who’s from the original London cast) and Lahti stay in neutral instead of switching to the necessary higher gear. It doesn’t help that they’re never credible as a couple, which considerably detracts from their combined comic impact.
The original cast of “God of Carnage” delivered hits with the precision — and ruthlessness — of champion fencers. Now, the agility’s gone, and the swords are blunted.