Children get into scuffles every day, settling their disputes in playground fights. What happens when two sets of very different parents meet to settle the score between their two sons? Surely childish antics are out of the question for these adults, or are they?

West Virginia University School of Theatre & Dance’s first show of the 2013-14 season is Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage,” translated by Christopher Hampton.

The play runs Sept. 27-Oct. 6 in the Creative Arts Center’s Gladys G. Davis Theatre.

Four Brooklynites meet one evening to have a civilized discussion about the recent altercation between their 11-year-old sons, one of them missing teeth. As the evening wears on, the parents become increasingly childish and manners fly out the window as we watch the thin veil of polite “civilized” society torn away by grown-ups who should know better.

Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” or “Le Dieu du carnage” received acclaim in the original French productions, but for the London and subsequent transfer to Broadway, acclaimed British playwright Christopher Hampton, known for such screenplays as “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Atonement,” translated the work into English. The Broadway premiere in 2009 had an all-star cast including the late James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, and Marcia-Gay Harden.

The WVU production of “God of Carnage” is directed by professor Jerry McGonigle, director of the Graduate Acting Program. Most recently, McGonigle directed “The Cherry Orchard,” last season’s closing show. Jumping from czarist Russia to present day Brooklyn, with a much smaller cast, offers a great sense of directorial variety, but both shows retain the same theme: people must deal with the behavior of others, even when it escalates into a very uncomfortable situation.

“To me, ‘God of Carnage’ confronts the questions: are we civilized, have we evolved beyond our primal savage nature or are we brutal survivalists clawing our fellow man?” said McGonigle. “Believe it or not, it is a comedy, galloping at a sometimes farcical pace. Reza’s writing is brilliant and she takes us on a brutally entertaining ride.”

“God of Carnage” features MFA Acting students Mya Brown and Nick Ryan, and Senior BFA Acting students Samantha Voit and Ben Roberts.

Scenic design is by Senior BFA Design/Tech student Nick Sines, costume design is by Senior BFA Design/Tech student Margaret Lazenby, and sound/lighting design is by professor Alan McEwen.

“God of Carnage” runs in the Gladys G. Davis Theatre in the Creative Arts Center on the Evansdale Campus Sept. 27-28 at 7:30b p.m., with a matinee on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m., and continues Oct. 1-5 at 7:30 p.m., with a closing matinee on Oct. 6 at 2 p.m.

This show contains strong adult language and adult situations and is not recommended for those under 18.

Tickets are $20 for the general public and $15 for senior citizens and students. There is a group rate of $10 per ticket for groups of ten or more.

Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com, the CAC or Mountainlair Box Offices, or by calling 304-293-SHOW.

For more information on this production of “God of Carnage” please visit www.theatre.wvu.edu, call 304-293-2020, or email theatre@mail.wvu.edu.

An ongoing rehearsal blog is available on the School of Theatre & Dance website at http://ccarts.wvu.edu/theatreanddanceblog.

-WVU-

cl/09/19/13

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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