God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza Play Guide Snowy Range Summer Theatre at the University of Wyoming June 23

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God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza Play Guide Snowy Range Summer Theatre at the University of Wyoming June 23 – June 27, 2020 @ 7:30 p.m.

God of Carnage Play Guide compiled and written by Jenefer Pasqua, Snowy Range Summer Theatre Dramaturgical Intern. 2

able of Contents T Snowy Range Summer Theatre...... Page 3 The Story and Characters ...... Page 4 Yasmina Reza ...... Page 5 Interview with Director Jason Pasqua ...... Pages 6-7 Helicopter and Snowplow Parents ...... Pages 8-10 References in the Play ...... Pages 11-16 Privileged People Behaving Badly ...... Page 17 About the Dramaturg ...... Page 17

Snowy Range Summer Theatre at the University of Wyoming

The Snowy Range Summer Theatre season runs at the University of Wyoming each June and July and generally features three productions, and sometimes one touring production. We are proud of the long history and success of Snowy Range Summer Theatre, which at 68 years old is the second oldest program west of the Mississippi! The summer company each year is comprised of current students and alumni working in the field, as well as outside professionals. The summer season is staged within a six to eight-week session and offers student performers and technicians valuable practical theatre experience and a stipend. Summer company members also have the option to earn up to 2 hours of academic credit if they wish.

Outstanding junior and/or senior theatre majors at UW (particularly those students seeking a professional degree) are strongly encouraged to audition for the acting company or apply for the technical company. An effort is made to select qualified students from UW to participate in the company along with students who are recruited from throughout the nation.

Source: http://www.uwyo.edu/thd/whats-playing/snowy-range-festival/index.html 4

By Yasmina Reza Translated by Christopher Hampton THE STORY: A playground altercation between eleven-year old boys brings together two sets of Brooklyn parents for a meeting to resolve the matter. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses, and the rum flows, tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters. CHARACTERS: Alan Raleigh - A lawyer who is married to Annette and father to Benjamin. Annette Raleigh - Works in “wealth management” and is married to Alan and mother to Benjamin. Michael Novak - Owner of a wholesale company and is married to Veronica and father to Henry. Veronica Novak - A writer who is married to Michael and mother to Henry.

Source: www.dramatists.com

born May 1, 1959, Paris France, French dramatist, novelist, director, and actress best known for her brief satiric plays that speak to contemporary middle-class anxieties. Reza was the daughter of Jewish parents who had immigrated to France. Her Iranian father was an engineer, businessman, and a pianist, and her mother was a violinist originally from Budapest. Reza studied at the University of Paris X, Nanterre, and at the Drama School of Jacques Lecoq before working as an actress. The first two plays she wrote, both winners of a Molière Award, were Conversations après un enterrement (1986; Conversations After a Burial), involving death and sex, and La Traversée de l’hiver (1989; “Winter Crossing”), about the unlikely friendship that develops between six people spending their vacation at a Swiss mountain resort. It was the play, Art, however, which premiered in 1994, that brought Reza wide notice. In the play three friends quarrel over a work of modern art—which is, in effect, a blank canvas—thereby showing just how fragile friendship can be. The play was in production on major stages worldwide virtually continuously after its opening. It won Molière Awards for best author, play, and production; a British Laurence Olivier Award for best comedy; and a Tony Award for best play. Another hit, L’Homme du hasard (1995; The Unexpected Man), was a two- character play set on a train traveling from Paris to Frankfurt. Following long monologues by a self-absorbed male author and his female seatmate and fan, the play ends with a brief dialogue between the two that centers on people’s need for one another. In the satiric comedy Le Dieu du carnage (2006; God of Carnage), Reza focused on two couples who meet to discuss a fight between their young sons. The play made its London debut in 2008 and subsequently won a Laurence Olivier Award. The Broadway production of God of Carnage, which opened a year later, was also critically acclaimed, and it earned a Tony Award for best play. For a 2011 film version (titled Carnage), Reza cowrote the screenplay with Roman Polanski, who also directed. Reza’s later plays include Comment vous racontez la partie (2011; “How You Talk the Game”) and Bella figura (2015; “Beautiful Figure”), which she wrote for the Schaubühne in Berlin and later directed in a 2017 Paris production.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yasmina-Reza 6

Q: What inspired you to direct this play?

A: There were several things that drew me to this play. The first thing was that my wife and I were lucky enough to see the original Broadway production of this play in 2009. The production was fantastic! Another reason I was drawn to direct this play was because Yasmina Reza writes great plays and dramatizes complex aspects of the human experiences in funny and touching ways. I love directing work that has great writing and reflects the social and political times of our society.

Q: What are some interesting characteristics of this play?

A: God of Carnage is about marriage and about being a parent. The play is ostensibly about what we are going to do about what we are going to do about the quarrel of the children, and they are not even present in the play. With the absence of the children, the play obviously becomes about the parents and their marriages. I have stolen this line from a TV show, and I love it…“When you’re married you say “I’m sorry” a lot. You say ‘I’m sorry’ when you mean it. You say ‘I’m sorry’ when you don’t mean it. You say, ‘I’m sorry’ when you have no earthly idea what could be wrong this time.” This play is about the day everybody gets tired of saying “I’m sorry.” There are personal and political implications to this statement. What makes this play unusual is there are a lot of ways to dramatize or explore what a marriage is, and what a relationship is, and this play takes the “what 7 happens when people stop lying to each other and themselves?” approach. What are the deals we make with each other and with ourselves? This play reminds me Yasmina Reza’s other play, Art. On the surface it’s about a painting (that the audience never sees until the end). But what the play is actually about is two friends and their conceptions of each other.

Q: What is the relevance of this play in 2020?

A: [All of us] are going to have to start having more honest conversations with each other. That can be scary and that can be painful. We’re going to have to be ready for some things we’re uncomfortable hearing, but you also need to be ready to hear some things come out of your mouth, that you might also not be comfortable with. Like I said, what happens when we stop saying “I’m sorry?” That doesn’t mean we have to go around and apologize for everything, but I do think we’re going to have to start having honest conversations with each other about politics and societal norms. We all tell ourselves things that get us through the day. That’s what makes the world work. But we better make sure we’re not living in a fantasy world. Otherwise, there is nothing to hold on to anymore. Who am I? Who are the people around me? We probably need to be a little more honest about that.

*This interview was edited for clarification purposes.

By Jenefer Pasqua

As an educator and parent, I believe one of the most interesting aspects of the play, God of Carnage, is the absence of the children and always talked about by adults on stage. The two boys involved in the fight are nowhere to be found.

The entire play centers on the conflict between the two boys, Benjamin and Henry, however they never appear on stage. In my opinion, Reza uses the absence of the children to highlight the behaviors of the adults. In this manner, the adults are representative of the children. As a teacher of students at all levels in the K-12 public school system, I can tell you that most children will solve problems on their own with little intervention from adults. Most often when a violent act occurs, the children resolve the conflict immediately thereafter. Of course, this is not always the case, but often, the children will find a way to resolve their problems and move forward in an amicable manner.

The behaviors demonstrated by the parents, Alan and Annette Raleigh, and

Michael and Veronica Novak, are not unique to this play. Several terms have been coined by child psychologists in the last decade that clearly describe the type of parents in the play. “Helicopter” and “Snowplow” are two terms that come to mind when considering this behavior. For those unfamiliar with the terms, “Helicopter” 9 refers to a parent who helps their child do everything. For example, In my first year of teaching I remember an incident with a parent of one of my third-grade students.

The third-grade boy was quite shy and relied on his mother for everything. She would walk him into the classroom every day and would ask a list of questions before she would exit the classroom. She would lurk in the hallway during classroom instruction, peering through the classroom door window. At one point, I shared this incident with a colleague during lunch, and she said, “Oh yeah, I had him in first grade, and I had to get the principal to ban Mom from my classroom.”

A “Snowplow” parent is someone who removes all barriers in front of their children. Writing in Psychology Today, Peter Gray, a professor at Boston College, observed that such parents “do what they can to hide their snowplow efforts from their children, to spare them the humiliation of knowing that their 'success' did not come from their own merits.” Gray added, “Their snowplowing is aimed not just at clearing paths and opening doors but also at inflating their children's egos”

(Zimmer, 1).

Are the parents in God of Carnage both types of parents? They are attempting to remove the barrier of “now what” from the children. Benjamin and

Henry had a “fight” with a stick, now what? Well, the boys do not get to decide.

The parents meet to shield their children from the problem-solving process and to 10 determine what is best without the children present. Are the parents Helicopter or

Snowplow parents? Or are they both?

Works Cited

Zimmer, Ben. “Snowplowing”: When Parents Try to Clear all Obstacles; After the

Rise of 'Helicopter Parenting' there's Now another Way to Overprotect

children—seen at its Extreme in the College Admissions Scandal.” Wall

Street Journal (Online), Mar 29, 2019. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.uwyo.edu/login/?url=https://search-proquest-

com.libproxy.uwyo.edu/docview/2199260046?accountid=14793.

If you would like to read more on this subject, see the book, The Coddling of the American

Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg

Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Books, 2018.

References in the Play

French Food References WHAT IS CLAFOUTIS? Clafoutis (pronounced klah-foo-tee) is a dessert from central France. Clafoutis is most often made with black cherries in an eggy batter that resembles a flan in the middle and a cake around the outer edges. WHAT THE CLAFOUTIS IS REALLY ABOUT. Veronica claims to serve Clafoutis for her love of the dessert and for the fact that her mother-in-law gave her the recipe. However, in my opinion, the real reason she serves the dessert is to show how “cultured” she is. The serving of the dessert is not about the dessert itself; it is about demonstrating the appearance of wealth and status.

Recipe for Clafoutis

YIELD Serves 4–6

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and butter until the sugar is dissolved. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into a cast iron skillet or pie pan.

2. Now add your favorite fruit or flavoring (see below). Bake until the clafoutis is beautifully puffed and golden, 35–40 minutes. Serve immediately.

3. Clafoutis Variations: Concord Grape Clafoutis: Once the batter is in the skillet, scatter 2 cups slightly crushed Concord or other black or red grapes on top. Cherry Clafoutis: Scatter 2 cups pitted cherries onto the batter once it's poured into pie plates.

Source: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/basic-clafoutis-51208430

New York Area References BQE: Acronym for the Brooklyn - Queens Expressway provides a link from Brooklyn and Queens points to the East River crossings. Also referred to as Interstate 278. Cobble Hill Park: A small city park located in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. The park displays a rose garden, playgrounds, and a dolphin fountain. F Train: Portion of the Manhattan Transit Authority that connects Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Secaucus: A New Jersey town located 4.5 miles from Manhattan. Whitman Park: This park honors Walt Whitman, a poet, journalist, and native New Yorker. Theatre/Art/Cultural References Bacon: Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British painter who became prominent in the art world with his work Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, which first exhibited in 1945 and caused quite a stir. The figures in the painting show stylistic attributes that continued throughout Bacon’s work, including physical distortion, violence, and emotionally raw imagery. He often created works that were contemplations on prior works of art that attracted his attention including his famous Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953) which referenced the earlier work, but in a distorted fashion. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously described him as "that man who paints those dreadful pictures;” Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion however, despite Ms. Thatcher’s rebuke of his work, he was respected in his own time and is considered the most important British painter since J.M.W. Turner.

Source: https://www.arizonatheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/GodofCarnage-Final-Playguide.pdf

Charley’s Aunt: A three-act farce written by Brandon Thomas. This story is about young Charlie Wykeham and his friend Jack Chesney attempting to obtain and arrange love Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita: was a Japanese painter best known for his participation in the bohemian culture during the 1910s in Montparnasse, Paris. Foujita’s strange yet representational paintings often depict himself, cats, and women. He found nearly immediate success in Paris and, despite having no connections beforehand, Foujita was able to sell and live off his art. Born on November 27, 1886 in Tokyo, Japan, he went on to study at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1910. After his move to Paris, Foujita met and became friends with prominent avant-garde artists of the day like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, and Chaïm Soutine. His work can now be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Los The Dream Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. Foujita died on January 29, 1968 in Zürich, Switzerland at the age of 81. Oskar Kokoschka: was an Austrian artist and poet known for his Expressionist portraits and landscapes. Characterized by staccato brushstrokes and bright colors, the artist created works that seem to shiver with energy. Born on March 1, 1886, in Pöchlarn, Austria, he grew up in Vienna and at 18 was awarded a scholarship to the city’s School of Arts and Crafts. In 1908, however, he was dismissed from the institution after he displayed works considered disturbing in both content The Bride of the Wind (Tempest) and technique. Throughout the 1920s and 15

1930s, he travelled across Europe, developing his distinctive method of exaggerated portraiture that dramatized his sitters’ psychological states. Having already fled the Nazi regime once, in 1937, his work was deemed “degenerate art” by the Nazis and he was forced to escape to England . He died on February 22, 1989 in Montreux, Switzerland at the age of 93. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, among others. Kouros Cologne: A cologne by Yves Saint Laurent. Scents of Clary sage, artemisia, bergamot, and coriander. Shroud of Turin: The Shroud of Turin is a 14-foot linen cloth bearing an image of a crucified man that has become a popular Catholic icon. For some, it is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

*All images sourced from Google fair use images.

Medical References

Ataxia: The word “ataxia,” comes from the Greek word, “a taxis” meaning “without order or incoordination”. “Ataxia is a degenerative disease of the nervous system. Many symptoms of Ataxia mimic those of being drunk, such as slurred speech, stumbling, falling, and incoordination. These symptoms are caused by damage to the cerebellum, the part of the brain that is responsible for coordinating movement. Ataxia treatment involves a combination of medication to treat symptoms and therapy to improve quality of life.

Beta Blockers: also known as beta-adrenergic blocking agents, medication used to reduce your blood pressure. Beta blockers work to block the effects of epinephrine (adrenaline).

Source: www.ataxia.org

Source::https://www.history.com/news/shroud-turin-facts

Source: http://www.artnet.com/artists/oskar-kokoschka/ 16

Endodontic Surgery: Endodontic surgery is more commonly called a “root canal,” describes any surgical procedure involving teeth roots and the surrounding area. Dentists often deal with inflammation or infection when performing endodontic procedures.

The Lancet: The Lancet is an independent medical journal founded in 1823.

International References

Darfur Conflict: A conflict that remained unresolved centered on the Darfur region in western Sudan. The conflict began in 2003 when rebels launched an insurrection to protest what they contended was the Sudanese government’s disregard for the western region and its non-Arab population.

Ethiopian-Eritrean War: A conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Eritrea invaded Ethiopia in May of 1998 and ended in June 2008. The two countries were fighting over land, and it is estimated between 70,000 and 100,000 people died during the conflict.

Kinshasha: The capitol of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Hague: It is not only the seat of the Dutch government, Parliament and Supreme Court, but also the location of many international dispute resolution organizations including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Behind New York and Geneva, The Hague is the third major hosting city of the United Nations and boasts the Peace Palace, funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to house the Permanent Court of Arbitration...

Sheba: The name of a kingdom in Southern Arabia. The kingdom is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Quran.

Source: https://www.arizonatheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/GodofCarnage-Final-Playguide.pdf

Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudan/Sudan-under-Bashir 17

Privileged People Behaving Badly By Jenefer Pasqua At several points in the play, derogatory slurs are used by one or more characters. No doubt these characters consider themselves otherwise good people. But with tempers flaring and communication breaking down, their blind spots come into focus. Like all of us, the characters imagine themselves as one thing, when in fact, the truth is more complex. Michael, in his frustration with Veronica, uses a racial slur to attack what he perceives as the hollowness of her good intentions and self-righteousness. Veronica and Michael have invited Alan and Annette to play a game called Apology. Veronica does not appear to be playing the game correctly because her self-righteous attitude prevents her from being gracious enough to see what is right in front of her. Of all the characters, Alan responds most negatively to this behavior because he sees and calls out Veronica’s hypocrisy. If these characters in the play, and we as audience members, are to have truly open and civil conversations, then the first person we need to be honest with is ourselves. About the Dramaturg

Jenefer Pasqua is a Wyoming native. She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a master’s degree in Teaching from City University of Seattle, and master’s of science degree in Special Education from Western Governors University. Currently, she teaches high school special education students at Central High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She has more than 15 years teaching experience at all grade levels K-12. In addition, Jenefer has served as an adjudicator for the Wyoming State Thespian Festival adjudicating in the areas of performance, publicity, and costume design. She has been married to her husband, Jason, for 18 years, and they have a 12-year-old son named Beckett. Jenefer loves to garden, read, travel, and play with her two dogs, Rosie and Midas.