Sopranos star James Gandolfini is winning rave reviews for his new Broadway role as a father who gets into an argument with another family following a playground fight between their sons.

God of Carnage by celebrated French writer Yasmina Reza co-stars Marcia Gay Harden as Gandolfini's wife, as well as Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis, and marked Gandolfini's first theatre role since the end of the Sopranos in 2007.

"Gandolfini overcomes his 'Sopranos' baggage and more than holds his own as the earthy Michael," New York Post critic Elisabeth Vincentelli wrote.

New York Times critic Ben Brantley said the play "delivers the cathartic release of watching other people's marriages go boom."