Alaska Employment Law

A farce, it says in my copy of Wikipedia, is a comedy written for the stage or film that aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, … verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo and word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene.  Farce is also characterized by physical humour, the use of deliberate absurdity or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances.
 
Not quite sure what the show was about, I went to see God of Carnage (at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre, W. 45th, NYC) wondering if James Gandolfini could successfully play a character who did not seem like Tony Soprano.  Carnage has a fine cast, including Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis as one married couple, and Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden as another.  (Harden won a Tony for Best Actress in God of Carnage, while the play won Best Play and Best Direction.)  The plot?  Two schoolchildren (never seen) have a fight.  The parents of one, played by Gandolfini and Harden, invite the other parents over for a mature discussion about how to handle this situation with the kids.  And it’s all downhill from there.  Daniels plays the most cellphone-addicted lawyer in history; Davis has the most shocking moment in the play – you will be shocked! – Harden seems obsessively shrill, so much so that I am not quite sure why she won Best Actress; and Gandolfini is calmly original when his character displays calm, then emerges as Tony Soprano-like when his character gets mad.  And he gets really mad.  The play is full of snappy dialog, arguably goes over the top more than once, and surely qualifies as farce, in the theatrical sense.  It’s one act, you’ll laugh, and you’ll be entertained.  When it’s over, you’ll be part of the happy audience streaming out of the theatre.
 
I know that somehow this experience inspired me to buy The Complete Sopranos (all 86 episodes) on DVD.