Vice President Joe Biden exiting the Jacobs Theater 2/19/2009, God of Carnage. (Due to my poor vantage point, I had to shoot this in a vertical orientation -- sorry.)
Last night my wife and I attended a performance of 2009 Tony Award winning play, God of Carnage at the Jacobs Theater in New York City. The cast members are, Christine Lahti, Annie Potts, Jimmy Smits, and Ken Stott.
As we arrived at the theater, we noticed policemen, and those shadowy guys with earpieces scurrying about. My fellow theater goers were speculating about what was going on, and if a celebrity might be coming. While the theater filled I was aware of the two orchestra seats to my right remaining empty. My wife joked that perhaps the mystery guest would be seated next to me. We were in row M, so it seemed doubtful that a celebrity couldn't score better seats. Based on the security, we thought it might be a foreign dignitary. I confess to hoping it would be President Obama. But that would be ridiculous. And if President Obama had sat next to me, I wonder if I could have summoned the nerve to show him my Obama Project photos on my iPhone.
The funny thing, to me at least, was that I had been carrying my camera all day long, and decided to leave it home before leaving for the theater. Mere moments before the curtain rose, there was a commotion in the rear, and Vice President Joe Biden and his lovely wife Jill, strode to the left front of the theater and sat in two aisle seats. Immediately the audience started clapping, and rose to give the Vice President a standing ovation. VP Joe, returned the affection with a smile and a wave. It all happened so quickly I never even thought to capture the moment with my iPhone.
So what was it like seeing a Broadway play with the Vice President of The United States? Well, it made it more special, as did the audience's exemplary, and respectful behavior. It's a huge tribute to the talented actors, and excellent play written by Yasmina Reza, that the audience became so engrossed with the action onstage, that they became oblivious of the action offstage. The drama begins slowly, and builds steadily, till it goes through a series of climactic actions, that on the surface would seem incomprehensible in terms of making such extreme behavior believable in so short a time frame. It was quite exhilarating, poignant, humorous, sad, and illuminating. Bravo!
And for fans of the television work of Jimmy Smits, and Christine Lahti, the physicality, and depth of their performance is revelatory. Annie Potts "tulip attack" will never leave one's memory. Scottish actor, Ken Stott's talent has more facets than any diamond and is equally brilliant. He has a way of forming a conspiracy with the audience that can elicit a laugh or a gasp with a mere glance or raising of an eyebrow. There are moments in this play that equate well with Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie -- which is quite an achievement.
My one minor, very minor, criticism, is the staging/focus when Jimmy Smits, delivers the lines about his God of Carnage. From my perspective, this important moment gets a little lost, and should be more prominent. I realize subtlety is often in play in a play. In my humble opinion, Jimmy Smits' and perhaps the play's best moment, is near the end when he gathers the fallen tulips. It's illustrative of the paradox in man's discomfort in acknowledging certain emotions that might signify weakness. Kudos to Yasmine Reza's ability to write a play so comprehending of the opposite genders foibles and strengths.
When the play ended, the Bidens made a beeline for the exit. I managed to record their exit with my iPhone. Sorry for the poor quality, the view of the back of VP Joe Biden's head, and my lame comment at the end, "I don't know if I got anything." What a night. Great play, the Vice President, and best of all, I made it home in under an hour. Talk about having one's priorities straight. 
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