God of Carnage (originally Le Dieu du Carnage ) is a Tony Award-winning play by Yasmina Reza, first directed by Jürgen Gosch and performed in Zürich on 8 December, 2006. [1] It was first produced in English in London on 25 March, 2008, in a translation by Christopher Hampton. [2] The play is about two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving into chaos. In 2009, God of Carnage was given the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. [3] God of Carnage won Best Play at the 2009 Tony Awards.

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Plot

Before the play begins, two 11-year-old children, Ferdinand Reille and Bruno Vallon, get involved in argument because Bruno refuses to let Ferdinand join his 'gang'. Ferdinand knocks out two of Bruno's teeth with a stick. That night, the parents of both children meet to discuss the matter. Ferdinand's father, Alain, is a lawyer who is never off his mobile phone. Ferdinand's mother, Annette is in "wealth management" (her husband's wealth, to be precise), and constantly wears good shoes. Bruno's father, Michel, is a self-made wholesaler with an unwell mother. Bruno's mother, Véronique, is writing a book about Darfur.

As the evening goes on, the meeting degenerates into the four getting into irrational arguments, and their discussion falls into the loaded topics of misogyny, racial prejudice and homophobia. ^{[4] [5]}

Original West End production

God of Carnage opened in the West End at the Gielgud Theatre on 25 March 2008. The original cast featured Ralph Fiennes as Alain, Tamsin Greig as Annette, Janet McTeer as Véronique and Ken Stott as Michel. ^[6] On the opening night of the performance, there was a power cut about an hour into the show. The show therefore had to continue in emergency lighting. ^[7]

Despite this, the play was reviewed positively by most critics. Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph wrote that, "with no lesser stars than Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, Ken Stott and Janet McTeer playing the warring quartet, parents and non-parents alike will surely be elbowing each other out of the way to get a ringside view from the stalls." ^[8] Micheal Billington in The Guardian gave the play four out of five stars saying that, "All four actors are excellent and, in Matthew Warchus's deft production, show the thin veneer of bourgeois pretence." ^[9] When the play was being discussed on Newsnight Review , Mark Kermode said that he laughed all the way through the play and Anne McElvoy described it as, "A fantastic Abigail's Party for the urban, professional classes." John Harris described God of Carnage as, "A play of two halves", in that the cast is British and it projects Britishness, but then it changes and claims that the cast behaves in ways that British people do not normally behave (the French half). ^[10]

Benedict Nightingale in The Times gave the play four out of five stars, although he did have criticisms, saying, "With Matthew Warchus directing these superb performers and Christopher Hampton translating, the effect is tense, edgy and funny. The problem, as the title hints, is that Reza wants us to see her molehill as a mountain. Her subjects come to embrace African genocide, conflict resolution, restorative justice and the moral nature of us human animals – and, though she might retort that microcosms may imply macrocosms or acorns signify oaks, the play cannot bear such weight." ^[11]

Ray Bennett for Reuters was critical also, saying, "There are some very funny lines, and all four performers delight in the power of well-constructed dialogue to both soothe and draw blood. At the end, the hypocrisies of both couples are laid bare, but at 90 minutes, the play hasn't enough time to go very deep and ends up offering neither catharsis nor harmony." ^[12]

Crew and creative team

• Author - Yasmina Reza
• Translator - Christopher Hampton
• Director - Matthew Warchus
• Designer - Mark Thompson
• Lighting Design - Hugh Vanstone
• Music - Gary Yershon
• Sound Design - Simon Baker
• Casting - Sarah Bird
• Assistant Director - Rachel Russell
• Production Manager - Crosbie Marlow Associates
• Producers - David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers

Broadway 2009

thumb A Broadway production opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre ^[13] in previews on February 28, 2009, and officially on March 22, 2009. Originally planned for a limited engagement to close July 19, 2009, the run has been extended through February 28, 2010. (with a break starting July 27, resuming September 8). ^{[14] [15]} Directed by Matthew Warchus, it stars Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden. ^{[16] [17] [18] [19]} It received almost universally positive reviews, ^[20] and won three Tony Awards, including Tony Award for Best Play.

Awards & Nominations

2009 Tony Awards:

• Best Play (WINNER )
• Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, Jeff Daniels (nominated)
• Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, James Gandolfini (nominated)
• Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Hope Davis (nominated)
• Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Marcia Gay Harden (WINNER )
• Best Direction of a Play, Matthew Warchus (WINNER )

References

1. Yasmina Reza
2. Christopher Hampton
3. 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards Winners
4. God of Carnage
5. God of Carnage at the Gielgud, W1
6. Cast - Creative
7. Show goes on after lights go out
8. Hot ticket: Ralph Fiennes in God of Carnage
9. God of Carnage
10. 28/03/2008
11. God of Carnage at the Gielgud
12. "God of Carnage" lacks a killer instinct
13. Heilpern, John (2009-03-31). Move Over Lear! New Crazed King in Town (HTML). The New York Observer. The New York Observer, LLC. April 5, 2009.
14. Hetrick, Adam."God of Carnage's Tony-Nominated Cast Extends to November, with Summer Hiatus,"playbill.com, June 2, 2009
15. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/132009-God_of_Carnage_Extends_Broadway_Run_Into_2010
16. Gans, Andrew. "God of Carnage to Play the Jacobs Theatre; Casting Announced." ''Playbill''. January 12, 2009.
17. Hetrick, Adam. "God of Carnage, with Daniels, Davis, Gandolfini and Harden, Arrives on Broadway Feb. 28." ''Playbill''. February 28, 2009.
18. "Jane Fonda returns to Broadway in '33 Variations'." ''USA Today''. November 3, 2008.
19. Frey, Hillary. "Broadway Bows Down to Power Dames Fonda, Sarandon, Lansbury." ''The New York Observer''. March 3, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-03-06
20. http://godofcarnage.com/reviews.php