Port Chester Resident Larry Reina Shines in 'God of Carnage' at Darien Arts Center

Port Chester’s Larry Reina is truly hitting his stride in his role as Alan Novak in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage produced by DAC Stage. The actor’s flawless performance is convincingly real as a father and husband caught up in a conflict that unfolds in this ‘comedy of manners without the manners’. The show, which won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, is being performed at the Darien Arts Center Weatherstone Studio for a 3-weekend run in November, starting on Friday, November 7.

The play unfolds, when two couples meet in one couple’s upscale Brooklyn apartment to discuss a fight between their 11-year old-sons, a conflict leaving one boy with two broken teeth. Their attempt to reach closure with the incident soon devolves into chaos. Christopher Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, “The bell rings. Pleasant chatter begins. Coffee and pastry are served. But the gentility soon gives way to the hurling of insults ... physical assault, wanton destruction of a cellphone, rampaging battery by tulips and other assorted forms of bad behavior.” In the DAC Stage production, Reina, Gary Betsworth, Jessie Gilbert and Eileen Lawless expertly play the shifting alliances among the couples under the experienced direction of Mark Graham. Reina ingeniously portrays Alan Novak who, during the course of explosive events, must restrain his wife during a physical altercation and can’t resist answering his unrelenting cell phone that eventually gets doused with water.

Reina is not new to the world of theatre. He appeared at the Darien Arts Center in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in 2014, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change in 2012 and Almost Maine in 2011. In the past year he appeared as the Judge and Old Soldier at the White Plains Performing Arts Center’s production of Parade, as King Lear in the Red Monkey Theater Group’s (Riverdale, NY) January 2014 production of Shakespeare’s play, and as Baron Tuzenbach in RMTG’s November 2013 production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. A Westchester County resident since 1991, he has been active in local theater in Westchester and Fairfield counties since 1998. Other favorite roles include Frederik in A Little Night Music (Armonk Players), Arthur in Camelot and Franklin Hart in Nine to Five (Irvington’s Clocktower Players), and Stamford Curtain Call’s Shakespeare on the Green productions of Macbeth and Taming of the Shrew.

God of Carnage marks the second show for Reina by Yesmina Reza. He played Ivan in Art in 2002. “God of Carnage takes on marital and social relationships and how our children’s lives affect us. The biting wit, perceptiveness and deftness with which she shapes the events of the play are all there, and shows Reza to be at the top of her game, making this the fabulous play that it is,” says Reina.

God of Carnage, translated by Christopher Hampton, is being performed at the Darien Arts Center Weatherstone Studio, located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind Darien Town Hall. Performances are at 8 pm on November 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 with matinees at 2 pm on November 9 and 16. Tickets can be purchased at darienarts.org or by calling the box office at 203-655-5414.

Photo credit: Jeffrey Wyant.

Founded in 1975, the Darien Arts Center (DAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing visual and performing arts programs and events for the community. The DAC offers educational programs in Dance, Visual Arts, Music & Theatre, & special events & live theatre performances by DAC Stage. Private donations, grants, tuition fees & ticket sales fund the DAC, which is located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. For further information, call (203) 655-8683 or visit darienarts.org.