God of Carnage

God of Carnage Le Dieu du carnage
God of Carnage original West End production poster
Written by	Yasmina Reza
Characters	Alain Reille Annette Reille Véronique Houllié Michel Houllié
Date premiered	2 December 2006
Original language	French
Subject	Two married couples meet to discuss a scuffle between their sons and gradually degenerate into children themselves.
Genre	Black comedy

God of Carnage (originally in French Le Dieu du carnage) is a play by Yasmina Reza. It is about two sets 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. The play was a success in its original language, French, and has been equally acclaimed in English-translated productions in both London and New York.

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. 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 with an unwell mother. Michel's wife, Véronique (Veronica in the Broadway production), 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. One of the central dramatic moments of the play occurs when Annette vomits onstage, all over the coffee table and books.

Christopher Hampton's English translation of the play was first presented in a UK Premiere at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End on 25 March 2008. This production was directed by Matthew Warchus 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.