James Gandolfini, Tony Soprano himself, is one of four first-class actors at the top of their game in the combustible comedy “God of Carnage,” which opened Sunday night and could be called “Grownups Gone Wild!” When you first see his character, he’s all mild-mannered and sheepish smiles, not remotely thuggish.

“God of Carnage,” which is poised somewhere in between, definitely delivers the cathartic release of watching other people’s marriages go boom. A study in the tension between civilized surface and savage instinct, this play (which recently won the Olivier Award in London for best new comedy) is itself a satisfyingly primitive entertainment with an intellectual veneer.