''God of Carnage'' (originally in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
''Le Dieu du carnage'') is a play by
Yasmina Reza that was first published in 2008. It is about two sets of parents; the son of one couple has hurt the son of the other couple at a public park. The parents meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish and the meeting devolves into chaos. Originally written in French, the play was translated into English by translator
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...
, and has enjoyed acclaim in productions in both London and New York.
Plot
Before the play begins, two 11-year-old children, Ferdinand Reille and Bruno Vallon (Benjamin and Henry in the Broadway production), get involved in an 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 (Alan in the Broadway production), is a lawyer who is never off his
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
. Ferdinand's mother, Annette is in "wealth management" (her husband's wealth, to be precise), and consistently wears good shoes. Bruno's father, Michel (Michael in the Broadway production), is a self-made
wholesaler
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In g ...
with an unwell mother. Michel's wife, Véronique (Veronica in the Broadway production), is writing a book about
Darfur
Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...
. As the evening goes on, the meeting degenerates into the four getting into irrational arguments, and their discussion falls into the loaded topics of
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
,
racial prejudice and
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. One of the central dramatic moments of the play occurs when Annette vomits on stage, all over the
coffee table
A coffee table is a low table designed to be placed in a sitting area for convenient support of beverages, remote controls, magazines, books (especially large, illustrated coffee table books), decorative objects, and other small items.R.W. Symond ...
and
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
s.
Production history
Original London production
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...
's English translation of the play was first presented in a UK Premiere at the
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels.
The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...
in London's
West End on 25 March 2008. This production was directed by
Matthew Warchus
Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British theatre director, filmmaker, lyricist, and playwright. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015.
Personal life
Warchus is married to American actress Lau ...
and starred
Ralph Fiennes,
Tamsin Greig,
Janet McTeer and
Ken Stott. On the opening night of the performance, there was a
power failure about an hour into the show. The show therefore had to continue in emergency lighting. The London production was widely acclaimed, receiving the
Olivier Award for Best New Play of the year.
2009 Broadway production
After some minor changes to the English script to accommodate American audiences, a
Broadway production opened at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theat ...
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 was extended through February 28, 2010 before converting to an open-ended run. From July 27, 2009 to September 8, 2009, the play was suspended to allow the principal cast to tie up prior engagements before returning to fulfill their contracts. Directed once again by Matthew Warchus, the original cast included
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...
,
Hope Davis,
James Gandolfini and
Marcia Gay Harden. All four actors were nominated for
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
s for their performances. Harden won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Play. The Broadway production closed on June 6, 2010 playing 24 previews and 452 regular performances. It is the third-longest running play of the 2000s (after
''The 39 Steps'' and ''
August: Osage County''). While receiving mostly positive reviews, the play has also generated some negative reactions.
Brendan Lemon Brendan may refer to:
People
* Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint.
* Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above
* Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...
of the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' called the play "this piece of shallow arrogance", adding, "I detest the pathetic complicity between this author and her audiences... when I left the theatre, I thought: I’ll never laugh again." Broadway cast replacements include
Ken Stott (who had starred in the London production),
Christine Lahti,
Jimmy Smits
Jimmy L. Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s-1990s legal drama ''L.A. Law'', NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s-2000s police drama '' NYPD Blue'', Matt Santos ...
,
Annie Potts (making her Broadway debut), Jeff Daniels (returning in the role of Michael and not his original role, Alan),
Janet McTeer (who had starred in the London production),
Dylan Baker,
Lucy Liu (in her Broadway debut).
The production was remounted in 2011 as a one-off engagement for
Center Theatre Group at the
Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, running for eight weeks from April 5, 2011 to May 29, 2011 (extended from the originally-announced six week run). The original Broadway cast reprised their original roles. The production broke every box office record set at the time for a play at the Ahmanson Theatre, selling 97,567 tickets and grossing nearly $8 million in eight weeks.
Other productions
The German premiere took place on December 2, 2006 at the Schauspielhaus
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
with Dörte Lyssewski as Véronique Houillé, Tilo Nest as Michel Houillé, Corinna Kirchhoff as Annette Reille and Michael Maertens as Alain Reille. The play was directed by
Jürgen Gosch.
The Slovenian premiere took place in 2007 at the National Theatre in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
. The play was directed by
Janusz Kica Janusz () is a masculine Polish given name.
It is also the shortened form of January and Januarius.
People
*Janusz Akermann (born 1957), Polish painter
* Janusz Bardach, Polish gulag survivor and physician
* Janusz Bielański, Roman Catholic pri ...
.
The play was produced in French for the first time with a premiere on January 25, 2008, at the Théâtre Antoine in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The actors were
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...
as Véronique Houllié, André Marcon as Michel Houllié, Valérie Bonneton as Annette Reille and Éric Elmosnino as Alain Reille. The director was the author herself,
Yasmina Reza.
In Spain, the play was released on October 2, 2008 at the Alcázar Theatre in Madrid, starring
Maribel Verdú,
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón,
Antonio Molero and
Pere Ponce
Pere Ponce Alifonso (born 1964) is a Spanish actor from Catalonia. He earned early public recognition for the 1992 romantic comedy film ''Amo tu cama rica''. He has featured in television series such as ''Cuéntame cómo pasó'' and '' Merlí''.
...
. For their performances, they won and were nominated for numerous awards.
The Croatian premiere took place in 2008 at the National Theatre in
Split. The play was directed by
Nenni Delmestre
Pietro Sandro Nenni (; 9 February 1891 – 1 January 1980) was an Italian socialist politician, the national secretary of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and senator for life since 1970. He was a recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1951. He ...
. The second Croatian production took place in 2009 at Theatre Rugantino in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. The play was directed by
Franka Perkovic
''Franka'' is a popular Dutch comic book series drawn and written since the mid-1970s by the graphic artist Henk Kuijpers. The principal character is a strong female Dutch sleuth who solves mysteries in exotic locales.
''Franka'' has been transla ...
.
In Serbia, the premiere of the play was in December 2008 at Atelje 212 in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
. It was directed by Alisa Stojanović and starred Dušanka Stojanović, Tihomir Stanić, Jelena Đokić and Svetozar Cvetković.
The Sydney premiere took place on 3 October 2009 at the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre. It was directed by
Gale Edwards and starred
Russell Dykstra,
Sacha Horler,
Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian film, television (including both serials and mini-series) and stage actor and director, with roles including ''Mulholland Drive'' and '' Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob i ...
, and
Helen Thomson
Helen MacLeod Thomson is a former member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and a former Democratic assemblywoman from California's 8th Assembly district. Thomson was first elected to the assembly in 1996 and served three two-year terms. ...
. The designer was Brian Thomson.
The Romanian premiere took place in 2010 at the Comedy Theater (Teatrul de Comedie) in Bucharest. The play was directed by Lucian Giurchescu, and the actors were Delia Nartea/Teodora Stanciu,
Tania Popa
Tania Popa (born 19 January 1973) is a Romanian actress.
=
* Your Face Sounds Familiar (Season 8, 2015)
* The national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
* The Farm (Season 3, 2018) Stage
* God of Carnage
''God of Carnage'' ( ...
, Marius Drogeanu and Alexandru Conovaru.
The Irish premiere took place in February 2011 at the
Gate Theatre,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
starring
Maura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009), ...
,
Ardal O'Hanlon,
Owen Roe
Owen Roe O'Neill (Irish: ''Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill;'' – 1649) was a Gaelic Irish soldier and one of the most famous of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster. O'Neill left Ireland at a young age and spent most of his life as a mercenary in the Spanish A ...
and Donna Dent, and directed by
Alan Stanford
Alan Stanford (born 1949) is an English-Irish actor, director and writer. He has worked in the theatre for many years, including a 30 year association with the Gate Theatre as both actor and director. He is well known for playing George Manning ...
. The Chicago Premiere was presented at the
Goodman Theatre in March 2011 directed by Rick Snyder and starring
David Pasquesi
David Pasquesi (born December 22, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. His screen credits include ''Groundhog Day'', ''Strangers with Candy'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Return to Me'', '' The Ice Harvest'', ''Veep'', ''At Home with Amy Sed ...
. The play has just finished a run at the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN.
''God of Carnage'' had its Puerto Rican premiere on November 4, 2011 at the
Tapia Theatre in San Juan starring Cordelia Gonzalez,
Braulio Castillo, Jr.,
René Monclova and Luisa de los Ríos, and directed by Alina Marrero.
A Flemish version called "God van de slachting" in Dutch, toured
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in 2012. It was directed by acclaimed television director Jan Eelen and starred
Els Dottermans, Frank Focketyn, An Miller and Oscar Van Rompay. The tour was hugely successful, mainly thanks to the fame of the director. The Raamtheater had previously performed the play, but their version was less successful.
In March 2013 "Un Dios Salvaje" premiered in Chile at
Centro Mori
The Centro Mori or Centro Cultural Mori (''Mori Cultural Center'') is a cultural project founded in Santiago, Chile by actors Gonzalo Valenzuela and Benjamín Vicuña, together with their partner Cristóbal Vial. The center is located in Barrio B ...
Parque Arauco theatre, starring
Blanca Lewin, Alvaro Espinoza, Ingrid Cruz and Elvis Fuentes, directed by Andrés Céspedes and produced by
The Cow Company.
The United Arab Emirates premiere took place in Dubai in April 2013 with Director Nina Hein, at the
Jam Jar Actors were Russell Bell (Michael), Brook Butterworth (Annette), Mike Green (Alan) and Sophie Paris (Veronica).
A new production of the
Christopher Hampton
Sir Christopher James Hampton ( Horta, Azores, 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the novel of the same name and the film ...
English translation was part of the 2018 summer season at the
Theatre Royal, Bath. Directed by
, it starred
Elizabeth McGovern,
Amanda Abbington
Amanda Abbington (born Amanda Jane Smith; 28 February 1974) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Miss Mardle in ''Mr Selfridge'' and Mary Watson in '' Sherlock'', the BBC adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stor ...
,
Nigel Lindsay
Nigel Lindsay (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor. He is best known on television for his roles as Sir Robert Peel in the first two seasons of ''Victoria'', Jo Jo Marshall in the Netflix series '' Safe'' and as Barry in the BAFTA-winnin ...
, and
Ralf Little
Ralf Alastair John Little (born 8 February 1980) is an English actor, writer, presenter, narrator and former semi-professional footballer, working mainly in television comedy. He played Antony Royle in ''The Royle Family'' and Jonny Keogh in ...
.
Film adaptation
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
directed the 2011 film adaption of ''God of Carnage'', whose title was shortened to ''Carnage''. The film was shot in Paris due to
Polanski's outstanding criminal conviction in the United States.
Jodie Foster and
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer, and writer. After his film debut in ''Casualties of War'' (1989), he gained exposure through his supporting roles in ''Days of Thunder'' (1990), ''Wh ...
play Penelope and Michael and
Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz (; born 4 October 1956) is an Austrian-German actor. Since 2009 he has been primarily active in the United States. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and two Sc ...
and
Kate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films, particularly period dramas, and for her portrayals of headstrong and complicated women, she has received numerous accolades, incl ...
play Alan and Nancy.
Awards and nominations
Original London production
Original Broadway production
Original Madrid production
References
External links
*
Article on theatremania.comGiguere, Amanda. The Plays of Yasmina Reza on the English and American Stage.
{{DEFAULTSORT:God Of Carnage
2006 plays
Comedy plays
Laurence Olivier Award-winning plays
Tony Award-winning plays
French plays adapted into films