What I liked
It’s always thrilling when a pair of actors enter the stage and you’re like, “who the hell are these people? And why have I not heard of them before???”
What I didn't like
I would say nothing in regards to the play itself…but I think the constant screaming in that intimate space brought me toward the threshold of a migraine. Don’t get me wrong, those actors are performing their faces off. But they’re also performing at a size and volume that would easily fill the Broadwater Main Stage, and after a while that same high level felt like sheer assault in the Studio. Just my honest thoughts.
My overall impression
Coming in hot with a clever inversion of the title “God of Carnage” comes DOG OF CARNAGE. Hands down Ben Schwartz‘s best work to date. I love that it comes in swinging hard with comedic punches, and then drives home the other side of the emotional spectrum. Yeah, you won’t be ready for this twist. Really, there’s just so much quality work here… Where to start… The actors? Yes, the actors. Holy crap. They sell the hell out of that script… Every syllable… Every moment is turned so way up to 11 that it’s impossible to become drowsy in that theater or remotely indifferent to the proceedings. It has been written and directed in a way that guarantees your attention and milks the most from these two powerhouses.
The scenes are inventively choppy, making hard cuts like an Osgood Perkins film – we’re calling some of the manic mania of such shows as ABSOLUTELY FILTHY – and I think the actor Spencer Weitzel could play a younger Brendan Hunt in the Brendan Hunt Story (high accolades, indeed) Either way, I’m over the moon for Ben Schwartz and his team, who strive (and achieve) for nothing less than outlandish, humor, and sheer raw emotionality with timely themes. Congrats all!
