| What: God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza Translation: Christopher Hampton When: October 16-24 2026 Where: The Masque Theatre, 37 Main Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town Cast: Jaime Uranovsky, Landon McClure, Dave Waugh and Juliet Yates Presented by: Claremont Dramatic Society (CDS) Tickets: R180 (R160 for pensioners and under 18s). Bookings through Quicket: https://www.quicket.co.za/events/390452-god-of-carnage/#/ |
God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza is on at The Masque Theatre, Muizenberg, Cape Town. This is Christopher Hampton’s translation (from the French). The production is Claremont Dramatic Society (CDS) and directed by Bernie Jacobs.The cast is superb: Jaime Uranovsky, Landon McClure, Dave Waugh and Juliet Yates. Superb play – and production.
Yasmina Reza is a brilliant writer and this text is delicious. The cast digs into the text, devouring every morsel. They eat Clafoutis – a dessert – a flan – which is kind of a character- a trigger. The dessert is served fresh at every performance, baked by Lisa Fontaine-Raine, a committee member of CDS.
Anyway, I digress. The actors are superb – sizzling energy between the two married couple protagonists – in the play. Jamie and Landon are a couple – in real life. But – not married. The non-verbal signalling between the protagonists – is brilliant.
The play starts off as a spat between two 11 year old boys with the parents meeting to try and sort it out. They end up behaving like children and the play climaxes in a roasting of marriage as an institution. Having children is likely to totally screw it up. Hilariously funny and clever. A cautionary tale. I would say that this is essential pre-marriage counselling.
Kudos to Bernie Jacobs for her fine direction and for the actors getting their teeth into this yummy script. I recently saw Yasmina Reza’s play Art the Baxter and loved it. I loved this production. It is excellent.
I am unable to attend the opening performances on the weekend so I went to the preview tonight. A treat of a play with four intriguing protagonists, behaving badly. They are unfiltered, unrelenting and Reza has fun in pitting them against each other as they unravel as they spar with each other and as couples.
There is talk of animal brutality, moments of regurgitation and a deep dive into what drives people to do the work that they do and what they get out of it. Africa figures a fixation for one of the protagonists and this obviously hits a nerve for us, on the continent. Lack of accountability is a through-line. Own up and move on.
Beyond the issues which Reza excavates, I think that the take-home is that we all need to chill out more – and not take everything so seriously in being uptight, right and righteous. There is a scene where the women bond in a fit of hilarity. It involves a device and water which overrides all the angst and issues and is a moment of sheer catharsis and release. I am sure that lines from this play, are going to ping for me when I see couples interacting at dinner parties, as they commune over cake, booze and cigars. Stylish set and costumes – with the requisite tulips as specified by Reza (why tulips? Why not).
Do not miss.
✳ Dave Waugh, Jaime Uranovsky, Landon McClure and Juliet Yates in God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, October 16-24 2026, The Masque Theatre, Cape Town. Pic: Lara Basson.
