My thoughts on GOD OF CARNAGE — Page 2

I didn't mean it as a knock on the show! I think GREY GARDENS was easily the best show of that season, but as an awards vehicle, it was clearly all about Ebersole (and Wilson) and the performance. Know what I mean? IRENA'S VOW might be a great show, but I feel like the buzz/attention to going to surround the performance rather than the play.

I caught the matinee yesterday and really enjoyed it. Although the show didn't exactly have a conclusion, or at least a satisfying one. I can easily see a nomination for Marcia Gay Harden. The rest will depend on billing. Everyone is above the title, so I'd imagine the producers would petition some of the actors to be classified as featured, but that remains to be seen. Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis were both especially nice at the stagedoor, actually coversing with everyone and taking photos. I think the experience was enhanced by the beautiful weather (which turned into today's misery, lol).

My only complaint was the sound design, which I know yankeefan highlighted in his review. I don't think this is a production specific problem as I had the same issue with Frost/Nixon. There is a weird echo effect in the Jacobs, which is especially bad if you're in the front of the orchestra. I was in the fifth row yesterday and the front row for Frost/Nixon and all I kept hearing was the actor's voices coming from the rear of the theater. It was awkward to hear lines directly from the stage and coming from behind me. There needs to be some kind of acoustical work done in that theater... or I'm having auditory hallucinations.

**EXTREMELY VAGUE, NoN-SPECIFIC SPoILERS REGARDING THE CoNCLUSIoN**

Interesting note about the ending, frogs. Personally, I think it's perfect -- pushing things to a point where things can't really escalate any further and then leaving us AND the characters to our own devices to wonder, "how did we get here?" and "where do we go from here?" I think it's just right for the material, but you're right, it doesn't "satisfy" or "conclude" in the way that theatre tends to, and I wonder if that'll be a mitigating factor for audiences. I don't think it will, but it's something to consider...