Written by Yasmina Reza Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Matthew Warchus
Synopsis: Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage deals with the aftermath of a playground altercation between two boys and what happens when their parents meet to talk about it.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"What you can’t imagine is the artful course that Mr. Warchus and his performers take. “God of Carnage” may be a familiar comic journey from A to B, but it travels first class."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK POST:
"After making you laugh, though, Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" leaves a bitter aftertaste. This Howitzer blast against bourgeois-bohemian hypocrisy could easily be staged as a drama. But it certainly isn't done that way here, and that's just fine it's been a while since Broadway's seen such gleefully nasty fun."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
"It’s sort of a “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” meets “Survivor.” Once rum starts flowing, it gets louder, uglier and funnier. Which isn’t to say that “God” is especially deep. We know people are savages at heart. And Reza relies on creaky devices to push the plot, like convenient calls from Michael’s mom."
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THEATERMANIA:
"So what if Reza is on a soapbox about humanity's weak underpinnings? The bubbles rising from the soap are buoyant. "
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VARIETY:
"Examining how the straitjacket of civilized society can barely contain the primitive beast within, the fanged comedy picks an easy target in the complacent bourgeoisie. But the savagery of its dissection of interpersonal politics -- marital, sexual and civic -- is played to perfection by a scorching cast in Matthew Warchus' pungent production."
Read the whole review HERE.
BACKSTAGE:
"You can see the wiring in this precision machine, but thanks to a stellar cast and impeccable direction by Matthew Warchus, Carnage is a feast for both actors and audience."
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AMNY:
"Just like Reza’s hit play “Art,” God of Carnage” makes for 90 well-crafted, extremely enjoyable minutes of theater brimming with black comedy plus critical examinations of shallow bourgeois etiquette. But what really drives this production is director Matthew Warchus (“Boeing-Boeing”), who orchestrates pitch-perfect comic timing among his absolutely excellent quartet of actors."
Read the whole review HERE.
NYTHEATRE.COM:
"God of Carnage takes as its thesis that so-called civilized people are, in fact, not. That's true as far as it goes; but for me this Broadway debut of God of Carnage doesn't go very far at all. I suspect that Matthew Warchus's production—using an Americanized translation of the script by Christopher Hampton—may not show Yasmina Reza's original French play to best advantage."
Read the whole review HERE.
NY1:
"Yasmina Reza, who first stormed Broadway with her Tony-winning play "Art" 11 years ago, returns with another crowdpleasing comedy. "God of Carnage" doesn't quite match the artfulness of that first triumph, but it's a winner and the theatre gods are smiling yet again."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEWSDAY:
"In fact, there isn't a false cue in "God of Carnage," Yasmina Reza's brutally entertaining 85-minute satire that opened last night at the Jacobs Theatre with a four-star quartet of dazzling performers - one of whom happens to be James Gandolfini."
Read the whole review HERE.
THE NEW YORKER:
"In ninety minutes of sustained mayhem, however, Reza wipes the masks of sang-froid off her whole monstrous regiment and demonstrates just how thin a line lies between civility and barbarity. "
Read the whole review HERE.
TIME OUT NY:
"To be sure, the HBO icon holds his own with a first-rate ensemble that breathes life into Reza's arch civility-versus-savagery comedy. God of Carnage is the author's most satisfying work since Art (1998), which also balances her very French tendency to jumble philosophy and farce with a surgical dissection of bourgeois pretension and slippery social identity. "
Read the whole review HERE.
