EASTHAMPTON — The burgeoning Easthampton Theater Company is on the cusp of debuting its first show at the City Space Blue Room on 43 Main St. across four days in May.

From May 11-14, the community organization will present its rendition of “God of Carnage,” the award-winning comedy written by Yasmina Reza that follows what happens when upper-middle-class folks in Brooklyn gather to talk in a civilized manner until civility breaks down.

“I love what the playwright has done here because she has really put together just ordinary people,” said Michael Budnick, the producing director of the play. “And people are funny, and people are hypocrites, and people make mistakes and they try to be something they’re not.”

The play encapsulates all of these traits through a conversation between two sets of parents who attempt to have a civilized conversation about a playground altercation that happened between their children in the park. In hilarious, and sometimes tragic ways, the mannerly discussion unravels into a booze-infused dialogue of diatribes and tantrums.

“The part of this show that really hooked me is just how much of our emotional well-being can be co-opted, distorted and can really be used as a weapon against what we perceived as a threat,” said Jason Rose-Langston, who handles sound design as well as light and sound operation. “The tension really fascinates me.”

This may be the company’s first show, but the cast and crew carry years of theater experience between each other, and after several weeks of workshops and rehearsals, the troupe is ready to go.

“I feel like we have a really tight production, and I’m really excited to see how things turn out,” said Manny Morales, the stage manager who also handles sound design. “My expertise is community theater and college productions, so to be here where everyone is taking everything so seriously, I’m feeling very secure with what we have.”

One can see the cast and crew’s infectious camaraderie at a recent rehearsal on April 25 at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church on 128 Main St.

The cast features four actors playing the four different characters: Thomas Piccin plays Alan, Matt O’Reilly plays Michael, Maggie McCally plays Annette and Gilana Chelimsky plays Veronica.

At that point in time, the group was already doing full runs of the play, which Budnick and Rose-Langston described as “unprecedented,” and representative of the group’s dedication.

In an interview with Reminder Publishing at this location, Rose-Langston credits this well-oiled machine as people coming together to form a common goal of bringing live community theater back to Easthampton.

“What we came up with is a company where the actors are almost immediately bonded with each other,” said Rose-Langston, who has also been an actor and director in other productions. “That also has to do with the early process that we went through with workshopping, where everybody gets a voice at the table and really gets a chance to explore the material as a group.”

Even though most of the four actors involved in the play have not worked with each other before, the bond is already apparent.

“I liked the day where the four of us broke down laughing out of nowhere and I have no idea what it was about,” said Chilemsky. “We were laughing for 40 minutes for no reason whatsoever.”

Piccin, meanwhile, said it is common for actors to not have experience working with each other, but he said that is one of the satisfying challenges about acting.

“For example, if you’re playing a couple, you have to develop that chemistry so you’re believable as a couple, but you’ve never met each other,” Piccin said. “It takes time to evolve, and a lot of it is just responding to your partner.”

The evolution of this play is manifesting through something as little as adding more props to the rehearsal set to something as big as preparing to enter the Old Towne Hall, where an 80-seat black box venue will transform into a sandbox for the “God of Carnage” actors.

“It’s becoming more real,” Chilensky said.

“I’m really excited to get a perspective of where things will be on the stage,” O’Reilly added.
For the Easthampton Theater Company, this play is just the beginning of a fruitful partnership with the rest of the community hungry for live, grassroots theater.

“The possibilities are finally there for the first time,” said Rose-Langston. “We hope to be a major part of that third or fourth wave of arts revival in this wonderful valley we live in.”

Readers can visit the Easthampton Community Theater website, easthamptontheater.com/god-of-carnage, to buy tickets in advance for the show. The show will take place at 7:30 p.m. May 11-13 and 2 p.m. on May 14.

Readers may also learn more about the Easthampton Theater Company in general on the Reminder Publishing website at thereminder.com/localnews/easthampton/local-group-revives-community-theater-in-easthampt.