God of Carnage

13 14 Season

God of Carnage Poster

By Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Joel Greenberg

Presented by David Mirvish as part of OFF-MIRVISH: The Second Stage Series

November 23 – December 15, 2013

Panasonic Theatre

Benjamin and Henry have had a fight.
Their parents are meeting for a civil discussion of the incident.
At least that’s the plan.

A COMEDY OF MANNERS… WITHOUT THE MANNERS

Tensions flare, and the gloves come off in this hilarious, Tony award–winning comedy that strikes at the heart of bourgeois civility and reveals the savagery beneath the polished facade of polite society.

God of Carnage has enjoyed tremendous success in productions around the world. Christopher Hampton’s translation (Yasmina Reza’s original is in French) won the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Comedy in the UK and the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play on Broadway, where it became the longest running comedy of the 2000s.

Studio 180’s production marked the Toronto English-language premiere of the internationally acclaimed work, and our second year of participation in Mirvish Productions’ exciting OFF-MIRVISH series (which we helped launch with our 2013 production of Clybourne Park). God of Carnage was part of the Mirvish 50th Anniversary season.

Winner: Best Independent Theatre Production, BroadwayWorld Toronto Awards

Written by Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Joel Greenberg
Associate Directed by Mark McGrinder
Featuring John Bourgeois, Linda Kash, Tony Nappo, and Sarah Orenstein
Stage Managed by Andrea Schurman
Assistant Stage Managed by Laura Baxter
Sound Designed by Michael Laird
Lighting Designed by Kimberly Purtell
Set and Costume Designed by John Thompson

Company

Yasmina Reza

Yasmina Reza

Playwright

For Studio 180: debut. Yasmina Reza is a French playwright and novelist based in Paris, whose works have all been multi-award-winning, critical and popular international successes, and translated into 35 languages. In addition to God of Carnage, she has written seven plays: Conversations après un enterrement (Conversations After a Burial)La Traversée de l’hiver (The Passage of Winter)ArtL’Homme du hasard (The Unexpected Man)Trois versions de la vie (Life x 3)Une pièce espagnole (A Spanish Play) and Comment vous racontez la partie (How You Talk the Game). She is the author of six novels: HammerklavierUne désolation (Desolation)Adam HaberbergDans la luge d’Arthur Schopenhauer (On Arthur Schopenhauer’s Sledge)Nulle part and L’Aube le soir ou la nuit (Dawn Dusk or Night). Films include Le pique-nique de Lulu Kreutz (Lula Kreutz’s Picnic), directed by Didier Martiny, and Chicas (based on Une pièce espagnole), written and directed by the author.


Christopher Hampton

Christopher Hampton

Translator

For Studio 180: debut. Christopher Hampton’s theatrical work has garnered three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard Awards and the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award. Prizes for his film and television work include an Academy Award, two baftas, a Writer’s Guild of America Award, the Prix Italian and a Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His plays for the Royal Court include TreatsSavagesThe PhilanthropistUncle VanyaTotal EclipseMarya and When Did You Last See My Mother? Other plays include EmbersThree SistersArtSunset BoulevardThe Talking CureAlice’s Adventures Under GroundWhite ChameleonTales from HollywoodDon Juan Comes Back from the WarTales from the Vienna WoodsAn Enemy of the PeopleThe Wild DuckHedda GablerLife x 3TartuffeLes liaisons dangereusesThe Unexpected Man and Conversations After a Burial. Hampton’s plays have been performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Almeida, the Royal National Theatre, and both London’s West End and Broadway. His television credits include The Ginger TreeHotel du LacThe History Man and Able’s Will. He has written the screenplays for Atonement, Imagining ArgentinaThe Quiet AmericanThe Secret AgentMary ReillyCarringtonTotal EclipseDangerous LiaisonsWolf at the DoorThe Good FatherThe Honorary ConsulTales from the Vienna Woods and A Doll’s House.


Joel Greenberg

Joel Greenberg

Director

For Studio 180: CockClybourne ParkThe Normal Heart, Our ClassParadeThe OverwhelmingStuff Happens, BlackbirdThe Arab-Israeli Cookbook, The Passion of the Chris & The Laramie Project. A co-founder of Studio 180, Joel is a Chalmers and Dora award–winning playwright and director who has directed productions across Canada. Elsewhere: Ain’t Misbevain‘, What the Butler Saw, Taking Sides, Vanities, Bells Are Ringing, Second City (Toronto and Chicago), Dames at Sea (too many times), Tonight at 8:00…8:30 in Newfoundland (all three editions), The Foreigner, Alice, Drink the Mercury and The Nuclear Power Play. Joel taught at Humber College Theatre School from 1984 to 1989 and the Drama Department at the University of Waterloo from 1991 to 2014, also serving as the Chair of each department.


Mark McGrinder

Mark McGrinder

Associate Director

For Studio 180: As Assistant Director – Blackbird; As a performer – Clybourne Park, The Normal Heart, Our Class, ParadeStuff Happens, Offensive ShadowsThe Arab-Israeli CookbookThe Passion of the Chris The Laramie Project. Mark is the Artistic Director of Studio 180 Theatre. His Studio 180 performing credits include Oslo, The Nether, You Will Remember Me, Clybourne Park and Stuff Happens. He has been a director and/or dramaturg(e) for many of Studio 180’s IN DEVELOPMENT projects and, as the program’s coordinator, has worked to connect creators with the appropriate collaborators required to bring their visions to the stage. He adapted and directed Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish for PANAMANIA, directed Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays and worked as Associate Director for Blackbird, God of Carnage and Studio 180’s 10th Anniversary reading of The Laramie Project. Mark was a member of the acting ensemble at the Shaw Festival for five seasons and he performed in several reviews with The Second City’s National touring company. He has been head or co-writer on several collective creations (Single and Sexy, That Artz Show and The Berlin Show) and his play MacHamlet was presented as part of the Alumnae Theatre’s New Ideas Festival. As an artist educator he has worked with high school, college and university students in and beyond the GTA and is continually inspired by the passion and vision of the young artists he has had the good fortune to connect with.


John Bourgeois

John Bourgeois

Alan

For Studio 180: The Normal Heart. Selected theatre: The Tempest (Prospero), The PriceThe GoatLost in YonkersOleannaCherry DocsFrankie & Johnny (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Tamara (Off-Broadway); Gaslight (Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia); Troilus and Cressida (Stratford Festival); and M. Butterfly (Theatre Aquarius). Selected directing: After Miss Julie (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Decadence (Ziggurat Theatre – Dora Nomination), Taming of the Shrew (Skylight Theatre – Dora Nomination), Rough Crossing (Centaur Theatre) and Bag Babies (Theatre Passe Muraille). Writing: Tansey’s Brag (Ziggurat Theatre, Toronto Fringe, Bravo TV & CBC Radio), Walking on Crimson (Ziggurat Theatre). Teaching: U of T, George Brown, York. Faculty at Humber College. Director of Screen Acting program at Humber College. Recent TV credits: Day Late, Dollar ShortCopper, Covert Affairs and The Firm. Other: produced and directed the original short feature film, Jimmy Pacheco (Best Comedy at Mill Valley Festival and Yorktown Film Festival). In production: After Lola (feature length project with graduates of the Acting for Film and TV program at Humber).


Linda Kash

Linda Kash

Veronica

For Studio 180: debut. Selected theatre credits: The Sisters RosensweigLove, Loss, and What I WoreThe Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead (The Imperial Theatre – played all seven roles); Lost in Yonkers. Linda Kash began her professional life at the Second City in Toronto and has appeared in a number of plays for Canadian Stage.Selected film and TV: Waiting for GuffmanBest in ShowCinderella Man, Titanic (ABC miniseries), ServitudeRunning Mates (with Henry Winkler); series regular for The Ron James ShowThe Comedy MillMax GlickVariety TonightShe TVMinor AdjustmentsStyle and Substance; guest appearances on SeinfeldThird Rock from the SunCybillEverybody Loves RaymondEllenSabrina, Ken Finkleman’s NewsroomFoolish HeartsGood DogAt The Hotel (Gemini Award) and King. Linda has co-created several shows for TV including My Talk ShowGo Girl! and The Joe Blow Show, which she also directed. As a point of interest, she voices Tony Nappo’s daughter, Gina Falcone, for Fugget About It (Teletoon). Other: Linda co-hosts a morning show for radio station Magic 96.7 fm and runs the Peterborough Academy of Performing Arts, which she co-founded in 2009 with her late “great” husband, actor Paul O’Sullivan. She also teaches improv to children and adults throughout Ontario through corporate workshops as well as community outreach programs. Linda is best known as The Philadelphia Cream Cheese Angel.


Tony Nappo

Tony Nappo

Michael

For Studio 180: debut. Selected credits: Murderers Confess at Christmastime (Outside the March); Sudden Death (Next Stage); The Real WorldThe Golden DragonAlias GodotLittle Mercy’s First MurderSidemanMotel Helene (Tarragon Theatre); Another AfricaThe Cosmonauts Last Message…, Wild Dogs (Canadian Stage); The Dirty BeautifulUnidentified Human Remains (Crow’s Theatre); Home is My RoadThe Gwendolyn PoemsProblem Child (Factory Theatre); Hosanna (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre); Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre Calgary); Paradise by the River (Centaur); Au Country Road (SummerWorks); Betrayal (Soulpepper). Film and TV highlights include Saw 2Four BrothersLand of The DeadMurder at 1600Hank and MikeStagBeat DownThe Resurrection of Tony GitoneDaVinci’s InquestIntelligenceSlings and ArrowsPlayedSaving HopeBreakout KingsThis Beautiful CityBaby How’d We Get This WayDefendor, You Might As Well LiveFlashpointThis Is Wonderland and voicing the lead character, Jimmy Falcone, on Teletoon’s hit adult animated show Fugget About It.


Sarah Orenstein

Annette

For Studio 180: The Normal Heart Stuff Happens. Sarah has appeared on stages across Canada, from her hometown of Halifax to the Queen Charlotte Islands, winning multiple awards in her career. Some of her many Film and T.V. credits include the film Albatross and the series Station Eleven and Less than Kosher. Selected theatre credits: 13 seasons at Shaw Festival, including Millionairess, Blithe Spirit , Councillor at Law and Heartbreak House, Tarragon Theatre including Patience, Collected Works of Billy The Kid, Scorched (Canadian tour) and The Message, 5 seasons at Stratford Festival, including Shakespeare in Love, Birds of a Kind and Nathan the Wise. She Is strongly committed to new play development and mentoring the next generation of actors and directors.


Andrea Schurman

Andrea Schurman

Stage Manager

For Studio 180: debut. Recent credits include Stage Manager of The Mountaintop (Obsidian), A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Globe/Persephone), 2 Pianos 4 Hands (Marquis), Other Desert Cities (The Grand Theatre), Venus in Fur (Canadian Stage), Sister Mary’s a Dyke?! (Cahoots) and Blue Planet (YPT). Other credits include over 70 productions with many wonderful companies such as Obsidian Theatre, Soulpepper, Citadel Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood, Factory Theatre, Ross Petty Productions, Tarragon Theatre, Project: Humanity, Alameda Theatre, Mirvish, Theatre New Brunswick, Tapestry New Opera, Opera Ontario, ShakespeareWorks, Resurgence, Toronto Operetta Theatre, AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival, b Current and the Stratford Festival.


Laura Baxter

Laura Baxter

Assistant Stage Manager

For Studio 180: Clybourne Park (2012). Other selected theatre credits: Black Boys, The 20th of November, Arigato Tokyo, Obaaberima, The Maids, The Silicone Diaries, Breakfast, (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre), Actually (Obsidian/ Harold Green), The Story, Tails From the City, Happy Days (Common Boots Theatre), Trout Stanley, Little Pretty and the Exceptional, Age of Arousal (Factory Theatre), Elle (Theatre Passe Muraille), I Call myself Princess (Cahoots/Paper Canoe/Native Earth), Sweat, Love and Information, Venus in Fur, 7 seasons of Shakespeare in High Park (CanadianStage), Soliciting Temptation, More Fine Girls (Tarragon Theatre), The Berlin Blues, Ipperwash (Blyth Festival), Speaking in Tongues, Festen (The Company Theatre), A Christmas Carol, The Story, Macbeth (Caravan Farm Theatre). Laura is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, 2005.  Thank you to my amazing wife Shawn for all your love and support.


Michael Laird

Michael Laird

Sound Designer

For Studio 180: Clybourne Park (2013), Our ClassThe OverwhelmingStuff Happens, Blackbird Offensive Shadows. Selected Sound Design credits: AnnieCinderellaA Year with Frog and ToadThe Princess and the HandmaidenYou’re a Good Man, Charlie BrownThe Wizard of Oz (YPT); Seussical (YPT/Citadel Theatre); Spamalot!Sound of MusicLittle Women (Citadel Theatre); Great ExpectationsBarber of Seville (Soulpepper); 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Legally Blonde (Neptune Theatre); Speaking in TonguesThrough the LeavesFestenMarion Bridge (Company Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Canadian Stage); A Synonym for Love (Volcano Theatre); Evil Dead: The Musical (Off B’way); and A Beautiful View (da da kamera).


Kimberly Purtell

Kimberly Purtell

Lighting Designer

For Studio 180: CockClybourne Park, The Normal Heart, Our ClassParadeThe OverwhelmingStuff Happens Blackbird. Kimberly is a Toronto based lighting designer for theatre, opera and dance and is thrilled to be working with Studio 180 once again. Her designs have been critically acclaimed across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Prague, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Moscow and Mongolia. She has designed for the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Philadelphia, Arena Stage in Washington DC, Tapestry Opera, Hamilton Opera, Edmonton Opera, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Place des Arts, among many others. She has also designed productions for the Pan Am Games and the Vancouver and Beijing Cultural Olympiads. Kimberly has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award, a Sterling Award, and a Montreal English Theatre Award. She is the Vice President of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE ADC659.


John Thompson

Set and Costume Designer

For Studio 180: CockThe Normal HeartOur Class. Other theatre credits: Speaking in Tongues, The Test, Through the Leaves (Dora Award), Festen, A Whistle in the Dark, Marion Bridge (Company Theatre); Divisadero (Necessary Angel); The Retreat from Moscow, The Tempest, The Clean House, A Christmas Carol, Humble Boy, The Shape of Things (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Waiting for Godot, No Man’s Land, The Mill on the Floss, Betrayal, Twelfth Night, Don Carlos, The Misanthrope (Soulpepper); The Trials of Ezra Pound (Stratford Festival); The Pessimist, Care, Alice’s Affair, Helen’s Necklace, Russell Hill, Little Mercy’s First Murder, The Good Life, Skylight, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl, Earshot, The Road to Hell (Tarragon Theatre); Eternal Hydra (Crow’s Theatre – Dora Award); Caught, Unity (1918), Blood (Theatre Passe Muraille). John teaches design at the University of Toronto Drama Centre.


Gallery

Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Sarah Orenstein, Tony Nappo, John Bourgeois and Linda Kash in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Linda Kash and Tony Nappo in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Tony Nappo, Sarah Orenstein and John Bourgeois in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Tony Nappo, John Bourgeois and Sarah Orenstein in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
Tony Nappo, Linda Kash and John Bourgeois in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.
The ensemble in God of Carnage. Photo by Karri North.

Terrific production. . . . Directed with a firm yet delicate hand by Joel Greenberg. . . . The cast of four is exemplary.

Lynn Slotkin – CIUT 89.5fm

A grand theatrical experience. A superb cast detonates a verbal explosion which would be painful if it wasn’t savagely funny.

CHCH TV

A blackly funny reminder that in the battle of nature over nurture, nature always holds the winning hand.

Toronto Sun

Lives up to the high standard that Studio 180 has always set itself.

Toronto Star

Excellent! A thoroughly satisfying night of theatre, with moments of intense discomfort and of absolute hilarity. Sharp, thoughtful and bloody funny!

Mooney on Theatre

Fast-paced, explosive and hilarious. I could relate to each character and could recognize many of the parents I know… It’s about life as we’re trying to muddle our way through it.

UrbanMoms

Hilarious! You won’t want to laugh for fear of missing a great line – but you won’t be able to help yourself!

JazzFM

If you want to see four great actors strutting their stuff, head to the Panasonic to see Studio 180’s production of God of Carnage.

NOW Magazine