Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage is a comedy all about violence.

What is it about?

In the translation from French of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, one character exclaims "Violence, that's our business". This extraordinary utterance was the starting point of my reflection on how violence can be the main theme of a comedy that is nonetheless undeniably hilarious. The bourgeois characters in this play are led to lose their temper, when they had originally gathered in a lovely salon complete with art books and tulips, to resolve a scuffle between their 11-year-old sons. The civilised people in the play end up being as gross and brutal as the ones expounding a view that violence is at the heart of civilisation. I was able to draw on fascinating research findings showing the paradoxical links between violence and humour. Yasmina Reza cleverly unsettles our beliefs in a benevolent society, but the seriousness of the topic is also neatly undercut by humourous moments.

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Why is it important?

Seeing how successful this play has been, and it was also turned into a popular film, Polansky's Carnage, it seemed important to understand it fully, and critique its views on violence.