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Yasmina Reza, who first stormed Broadway with her Tony-winning play "Art" 11 years ago, returns with another crowdpleasing comedy. "God of Carnage" doesn't quite match the artfulness of that first triumph, but it's a winner and the theatre gods are smiling yet again.

Not quite a fully realized play, it's an extended situation comedy featuring two couples meeting to discuss a playground fight between their 11-year-old sons. It seems one of the little boys whacked the other with a stick causing him to lose two teeth. At first, the interaction is civil but there are tensions in the air. It doesn't take long before emotions erupt. And look out. Besides being exceptionally funny, there are several shocking moments in this play that are bound to take you by complete surprise.

Reza's message is not terribly original, that beneath our civilized skins, if provoked enough we're all reduced to barbarians. And as it turns out, the playground violence is kidstuff compared to these warring parents. Hammering home the point further, Reza throws in references to Africa and primitive cultures.

The great joy in this production is in the way these outstanding actors bite into their roles. There's some scenery chewing as well. Jeff Daniels' wonderfully obnoxious lawyer, initially the biggest creep, is outdone by James Gandolfini's wholesaler whose mildmannered façade is shattered with a barrage of beautifully played nastiness. Hope Davis as a waspy wealth manager comes deliciously unglued with the addition of some choice rum and Marcia Gay Harden in perhaps the most developed of the roles as a socially conscious art lover is divinely hysterical.

Director Matthew Warchus who staged "Art" so brilliantly does it again along with translator Christopher Hampton and designer Mark Thompson. They can't do much with a weak ending in this 85-minute one-act. Still, "God of Carnage" offers theatergoers more than enough to sink their teeth and funny bones into.