THEATER REVIEW

"God of Carnage," which opened at the Fulton Thursday night, reminded me of an amuse-bouche. That's a foodie term for a bite-size appetizer often served in fine restaurants at the discretion of the chef.

This theatrical amuse-bouche is quite funny and, like those appetizers, it leaves you wanting more.

When "God of Carnage" came to a close a mere 75 or so minutes after it began, I was not ready for it to end.

I was having a good time watching a very funny, tasty play by Yasmina Reza, with translation by Christopher Hampton, but I was still hungry.

Two couples are meeting one afternoon to discuss the fight their 11-year-old sons were involved in on a nearby playground in their ritzy Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Wealthy, well-educated and overachieving New Yorkers, these two couples want to come to a civilized agreement.

Veronica and Michael Novak (Julie Czarnecki and Ben Lipitz) are the parents of Henry, who was hit with a stick by Benjamin, suffering two broken teeth.

Annette and Alan Raleigh (Susan Riley Stevens and Greg Wood) are Benjamin's parents.

Veronica has set up the meeting, made a pear and apple calafouti and coffee. She is eager to resolve the problem in a civilized manner.

But soon cracks begin to surface.

Michael thinks the whole thing is silly, though he's quick to agree with anything anyone says in an effort to be polite. At least for a time.

Alan, who is a corporate attorney, doesn't think it's that big a deal. Boys fight.

"Madame, our son is a savage," he says rather happily to Veronica.

But his attention is really focused on work. He's trying to prevent damage to a huge pharmaceutical company that's about to be sued.

Annette is embarrassed to be there and suffers a panic attack, which leads her to throw up all over Veronica's prized books. (And yes, you'll see it all.)

That unleashes something in Veronica, who likes to think of herself as highly caring and civilized.

The polite veneer is ripped off and they begin acting like savages themselves.

At first, it's confined to how the playground incident should be handled.

But once the rum starts flowing, inhibitions disappear and the primitive anger inside of each one of them is unleashed.

They bump up against class differences, the war of the sexes and, perhaps most brutally, the destructive aspects of parenthood and marriage.

Allegiances shift from sentence to sentence.

Among the subjects that keep coming to the fore — and which are quite funny — are the death of a hamster, Veronica's calafouti and Alan's cell phone.

Robert Andrew Kovach's set is wonderfully aggressive, with jagged lines and slashes of red on the walls.

Director Bernard Havard, artistic director of the Walnut Street Theatre, which co-produced the show with the Fulton, keeps things moving at a swift and lively pace.

And the cast is excellent. They have perfect comic timing and they each get the chance to excel in juicy roles.

And somehow, you like all four characters.

But at the end I was asking myself, 'Is this all there is?' The show felt more like a trifle than the Tony-award-winning best play of 2009.

Trifles can be great fun, though, and "God of Carnage" certainly was that.

"God of Carnage" is playing through Feb. 19 at the Fulton. It's recommended for adult audiences.

jholahan@lnpnews.com