Report From London 2: That Face by Polly Stenham at the Duke of York's Theatre, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza at the Gielgud Theatre.
Two plays by extremely talented women: Yasmina Reza of "Art" fame, and Polly Stenham, a 21 year old wonder who has taken the British theatre world by storm. Each play deals with barely suppressed and troubled families. Yasmina Reza probably has her biggest hit since "Art" and with a cast headed by Ralph Fiennes and which includes the great Janet McTeer, Tamsin Greig (a fabulous actress whom I had not caught before), and Ken Stott who was in the original London production of "Art" it's no wonder. "God of Carnage" does not disappoint, although it rarely goes below the immediate surface. But so solid is the acting and the direction by Matthew Warchus, its smash hit status is beyond question. Briefly two families get together to discuss playground violence committed by one family's son against the other's and they then proceed to devolve into the same inane playground violence, albeit with rum instead of a stick. It was great fun. But on this day on which I also saw "That Face" by Polly Stenham who is all of 21 years old, it is the play by the young prodigy that I will remember for a long time. It's hard to believe that a 21 year old (she must have been even younger since it was staged at the Royal Court last year) could have written such wise and understanding dialog for a range of characters from a teenage girl and boy to a besotted and horrific mother superbly played by the great Lindsay Duncan, and a distant and cold father played by Julian Wadham. The play unmasks a terribly dysfunctional family beginning with the young daughter's shocking poisoning of a schoolmate. "That Face," already published, appears influenced by the work of Edward Albee, although it is more linear than his more recent work, and I would expect it will start appearing everywhere, extending beyond its 10 week run at the Duke of York, both in the UK and the US. God of Carnage B+. That Face A-