‘God of Carnage’ on Stage at the Rep

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It looks like playground bullying. The incident occurs in a posh Brooklyn neighborhood, probably on a private playground, and the parents of the two boys meet in a gesture—perhaps sincere?—of conflict resolution. But verbal missteps escalate into social pratfalls as the conversation grows testier, angrier, in God of Carnage.

Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning play, a comedy of upper-class manners, which she adapted with Roman Polanski into his 2011 film, which he called Carnage, will be staged by the Milwaukee Rep, April 18-May 14. It’s the most memorable two-couple stage and screenplay since Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Rep’s director for God of Carnage, Ryan Quinn, hasn’t seen the film—“on purpose,” he insists.

Quinn grew up in Racine, where he found his path into acting at Jefferson Lighthouse Elementary School. He enthusiastically names the middle and high school teachers who encouraged him as well as his mentor at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival who urged him to pursue directing. Quinn is a familiar face for Rep-goers as an actor (Yellowman), director (Dad’s Season Tickets) and for his work with the Rep’s Professional Training Institute.

Brilliantly composed from incisive dialogue that reveals multitudes of meanings, God of Carnage is among the most significant new plays from the early 21st century, a candidate at this date for joining ranks with Macbeth and A Doll’s House as an enduring classic on the dynamics of marriage (and wider social implications). God of Carnage is a play about the complications of language within the constraints of an encounter among people who have seldom considered the other side of any argument. The Rep’s casting of two white actors and two actors of color is inclusive but not intended as a comment on racial tension. The couples on stage are bi-racial.

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“I think it’s important that this play not be about race, even if every play in America is about race in some way,” Quinn says. “There are things said in the play that cross the line in terms of race, gender and sexuality. I thought it was important to represent them in a more nuanced way—not as a Black family versus a white family.”

Rich and Richer Still

While both families in God of Carnage are affluent, one is richer and better connected than the other, highlighting subtle gradations in standing, belying the illusion of America as a classless society. “Status and wealth are huge things that come into play and inform the way they argue—and what their kids are entitled to,” Quinn says, describing the protagonists.

God of Carnage is about parental competition, family competition, power dynamics in American society, male and female roles, parenting, marriage and, yes, bullying, among adults as well as children.

“The initial response of parents,” Quinn says of the play’s trigger situation, “is ‘Nobody can put their hands on my child!’ That’s why this play is so real. It’s truth on steroids!”

It’s also set in 2009, whose subtle indicators in costuming include period cellphones. For the time frame: Just imagine that brief moment after Barack Obama’s inauguration and those Shepard Fairey HOPE posters. Optimism was trending upward, and civility was still the accepted starting point for disagreement. Maybe in 2023, the couples would bring concealed carries?

April 18-May 14 at Quadracci Powerhouse, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets and more information, visit: milwaukeerep.com