God Of Carnage At Playhouse Theatre

Vancouver Civic Theatres and The RoyalManitoba Theatre Centre, announced today that the fast, furious, and very, very funny comedy God of Carnagewill be presented at the Vancouver Playhouse from April 14 to May 5, 2012. 

Tickets from $33 can be reserved by calling 604-665-3470, or in person at the theatre box office, Hamilton St. at Dunsmuir, Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The play was originally scheduled as the last production of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company’s 2011/2012 main stage season before the company ceased operations on March 10, 2012. As presenter, Vancouver Civic Theatres has worked with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre to ensure that God of Carnage will be staged as planned so that Vancouver patrons will be able to enjoy this award-winning production.

Written by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, God of Carnage won the 2009 Olivier Award for Best Play for its London production. A successful Broadway run also resulted in a 2009 Tony Award for Best Play. This “tense, edgy, and funny” (the times) comedy begins after two young boys have been in a playground fight. Their parents meet to discuss the incident in a civilized manner, but what begins as a calm and rational debate between grown-ups, soon degenerates into a hysterical evening of name-calling, tantrums and tears before bedtime. 

THE COMPANY

Oliver Becker’s  (Michael Novak) theatre credits include The Seafarer, The Diary of Anne Frank (MTC); The Weir(MTC/Canadian Stage); Hosanna, Richard III, Zastrozzi (Stratford); The Pillowman, Frozen (Citadel); Beyond Mozambique, Better Living, Escape from Happiness (Factory Theatre); Wild Mouth, Side Man (Tarragon); The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Canadian Stage); The Cripple of Inishmaan (Centaur); The Miser, Macbeth, The Millionairess (VP).

Shauna Black’s (Veronica Novak) theatre credits include Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Sylvia, Test Drive, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Six Degrees of Separation (Theatre Aquarius); Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad,Heatwave, Cricket and Claudette (Blyth); The Melville Boys, The Miser (Sudbury Theatre Centre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Festival of Classics); Missing (Factory Theatre); Amadeus (Canadian Stage/Citadel); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Persephone); and five seasons with the Shaw Festival. Shauna trained at the Stratford Festival’s Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre.

John Cassini (Alan Raleigh) is a founding member of 3rd Street Theatre in Los Angeles, where he appeared inEdmond, Geography of a Horse Dreamer and One for the Road. Other theatre in LA: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Greenway Court Theatre); Cash Deal (Actors Studio). In Vancouver: Rabbit Hole (Arts Club); Stiff Cuffs(Beaumont Theatre); Beirut, For What We Reap, Italian American Reconciliation (Station Street Arts Centre). An accomplished TV and film actor in both Canada and the US, John has received several Gemini nominations, Leo Awards, developed TV shows for various networks and produced five feature films.

Vickie Papavs (Annette Raleigh) has appeared in many productions across the country, in both large and small theatres. Selected favourites include: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (MTC/Theatre Calgary); Medea(MTC/Mirvish); Much Ado About Nothing Mourning Dove (Ark Productions); Last Romantics, It’s All True(Necessary Angel); The Winter’s Tale (Centaur); Ah! Wilderness, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Stratford);Twelfth Night, The School For Scandal (Banff Centre); Miss Julie (Orange Dog). Vickie has appeared in numerous film and television productions. Most recent: The LA Complex, King, Flashpoint, Murdoch Mysteries, If I Were You, The Four Sisters, The Gathering.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Yasmina Reza (Playwright) 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 and six novels. Her films include Chicas (based on Une pièce espagnole), written and directed by the author. 

Christopher Hampton’s (Translator) 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 have been performed at the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Almeida, the Royal National Theatre, and both London’s West End and Broadway.

Miles Potter (Director) has directed for most major theatres across Canada, including three commercial plays for Mirvish Productions at the Royal Alex, the Winter Garden and the Ed Mirvish Theatre. He has received a Dora Award (The Drawer Boy, Toronto), a Jessie (The Taming of the Shrew, Vancouver) and a Masque Award (Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Montreal). Miles has taught and directed at the National Theatre School, George Brown College, Dalhousie University, the University of Ottawa, the Globe Conservatory and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

The creative team also includes Gillian Gallow (Set and Costume Designer), Gerald King (Lighting Designer),Carson Nattrass (Fight Director), Evan R. Klassen (Stage Manager), and Peter Jotkus (Assistant Stage Manager).

Over its three-week run, 23 performances will be presented providing direct employment for 17 people locally as well as the visiting MTC company of four actors and two stage managers. It will also generate 168 hotel nights.

Vancouver Civic Theatres manages the Vancouver Playhouse as well as the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Orpheum and Orpheum Annex. 

The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is a community-based, not-for-profit arts organization in Winnipeg, Manitoba. MTC was Canada’s first English-language regional theatre and presents six plays at the John Hirsch Mainstage, four plays at the Tom Hendry Warehouse, a regional tour, a Master Playwright Festival and the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, North America’s second-largest Fringe Festival.

All Playhouse subscribers and current ticket holders should be aware that their tickets for God of Carnageare valid and will be honoured for all performances.

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