GOD OF CARNAGE • The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

All of us have, at some point, had one of those, "Man, what an effed up evening that was!  What the hell just happened?" kind of experiences.  This play is kinda like that.  Written by Yasmina Reza and translated from French by Christopher Hampton, it opened on Broadway in 2009, scoring Tony Awards for best play, best actress and best direction.

The Raleighs are getting together at the Brooklyn home of the Novak's because the Novak's son has had two teeth knocked out as a result of a playground fight with the Raleigh's kid.  <-- Yes, really long sentence.  Alan Raleigh (Anthony Marble) is a lawyer, constantly interrupting the proceedings with cell phone calls about a drug he's representing that has recently been found to cause some bothersome side-effects.  His wife Annette (Susan Louise O'Connor) deals in wealth management.  Veronica Novak (Eva Kaminsky) is writing a book about Darfur, and her husband Michael Novak (Triney Sandoval) sells domestic hardware.  They meet each other with the best of intentions, but with the help of ample amounts of rum, these four upper-middle class adults jettison their civilized guises to expose their untamed and wickedly universal selves underneath.

Theatre Etiquette Time

Okay, I've held off long enough. Theatre etiquette time.

A few folks have told me that the name of this blog would suggest someone who will only see shows at the Fox or "highbrow" intellectual stuff. Nope. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fox -- it's an absolutely beautiful space, but good heavens it's big. (That's what she said…)  I like small intimate theatres. And as far as intellectual shows go, I'm still waiting for someone to explain Bertolt Brecht to me. I mean, I think I get it, but the only Brecht show I've seen was a tad over my head, and not the greatest production in the world, so I left the theatre a little confused.

Anyway, a more appropriate title for this blog could be "St. Louis Theatre Etiquette Police".  When my friends suggested I start a blog, we thought it would mostly consist of a little good-natured berating of St. Louis audiences for their random atrocious behavior. Little did I know I'd actually start kind of reviewing shows, which I have fallen in love with doing, but tonight, I feel compelled to call out some stuff.

I LOVE MY WIFE • New Line Theatre

Ah, the 70's.  Reminds me of my beloved chocolate brown corduroy blazer and my parents' misgivings about my insistence that I be allowed to stay up to watch "Maude".  It was also a time when many in the country turned their attention to getting their groove on -- threesomes, foursomes, who cares?  It was the swingin' 70's!  But can the friendship of 2 couples survive the influences of the sexual revolution?  That's what we get to find out in New Line Theatre's 20th season opener, I LOVE MY WIFE.

This was opening night and a few of the for real reviewers, like the people who really know their shit were there.  I got chills.  Okay not really, but you could feel everyone's anticipation to see this show, which hadn't been staged in St. Louis for many years, and that was cool.  I also must say, there were a couple of chicks behind me who apparently were not aware of the "Excuse me, the show has started.  STFU" rule.  Luckily for me, they sat somewhere else for the second act.  At one point early on when one of the couples was getting into bed, one of the girls said, "Oh my God.  Are they gonna get in bed together?"  …  Uh, really?  Did you enjoy your season at the Muny?  But I digress…