T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Gray Carlton (Annette Raleigh), Emily Stone (Alan Raleigh), Scott Lindborg (Michael Novak) and Vanessa Engel (Veronica Novak) comprise the cast of the upcoming Marshalltown Community Theatre production of “God of Carnage.” The show will premiere Friday at 7 p.m. at the Miller Middle School auditorium.

When kids can’t get along and a fight breaks out at school, their parents should be mature enough to handle the situation in a respectful manner. But what happens when their behavior is even more childish than that of their children?

That’s the question posed in “God of Carnage,” a play billed as a comedy without manners written by Yasmina Reza and first published in 2008 before an eventual film adaptation directed by Roman Polanski in 2011. The Marshalltown Community Theatre (MCT) version of the show will premiere at the Miller Middle School auditorium on Friday night at 7 p.m. with subsequent performances on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by three more performances next Friday at 7 p.m., next Saturday at 7 p.m. and next Sunday at 2 p.m.

Director Nicole Jensen said the play is dedicated to Teresa Theis, who had intended to direct it before she passed away last summer.

The primary cast is comprised of two sparring couples — Gray Carlton as Annette Raleigh, Emily Stone as her husband Alan, Scott Lindborg as Michael Novak and Vanessa Engel as his wife Veronica. Engel said she was particularly excited about the show as she had previously worked in New York City and wanted to see a production of it there but couldn’t afford a ticket at the time.

“It’s really cool to be in it. It’s the next best thing,” she said.

Carlton is coming off of her MCT debut in “The Mousetrap” and decided to make it two productions in a row, and Lindborg said he simply showed up to auditions to support his friend (Jensen) and ended up with one of the main parts. For Carlton, getting into character as Annette was a bit of a challenge after playing a 1940s British housewife in the previous play and transitioning that into a modern New Yorker married to a lawyer, who’s played by Stone.

“It’s been difficult playing her in the way that she’s very two-faced, in my opinion,” Carlton said of her character. “She kind of starts out with good intentions, and she kind of tries to be the peacemaker until she starts drinking.”

Alan Raleigh, on the other hand, has been “scarily easy” for Stone to play — he’s a workaholic who’s constantly on his phone.

“In my day job, I’m a workaholic that carries two phones, so it’s actually been nice to go down to one phone,” Stone said. “But leaving Alan onstage has been more difficult than picking him up.”

Michael Novak simply goes with the flow and avoids confrontation despite a lingering discontent over his lot in life — he got married and had kids because he felt it was the right thing to do. Lindborg joked that Jensen typecast him as “a guy who’s depressed.”

Engel was immediately attracted to playing Veronica because she saw a lot of herself in the character — she appreciates the arts and high society and likes things done a certain way.

“Her heart is in the right place, but where is she going with it?” she asked.

When a question about the inciting incident is raised, the four leads almost seamlessly slip into character as they accuse each other’s children of being at fault, and as it goes on, alliances shift as the debate devolves into a contest of who is raising their kids right.

“It kind of becomes the wives vs. the husbands for a while and then it comes back to couple vs. couple,” Carlton said.

Commenting on the temporary “bromance” between himself and Alan Raleigh, Lindborg joked that in the yet-to-be-written or produced sequel to “God of Carnage,” the two run away to Mexico and open a cafe together. While the tone of the interview was decidedly lighthearted, Jensen was sure to praise her small cast for their efforts in learning a difficult show.

“This is a very line-heavy show. They have taken lots of time to learn all of their lines, and we’re dedicating the show to Teresa (Theis) and Bill Roberts, two of our former people from MCT that have passed,” she said. “And I think we’re making them proud. I really think we’re making them proud with this show, and it’s gonna be a very good show.”

Lindborg added that fans of the “Real Housewives” TV series will likely be drawn to “God of Carnage,” and Stone said the language has actually been toned down slightly from the original to keep it somewhat appropriate. Tickets can be purchased either at the door or online at https://marshalltowncommunitytheatre.org/buy-tickets/.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.