Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

Le dieu du carnage, Yasmina Reza's comedy directed by Antonio Zavatteri, is at Teatro Quirino Vittorio Gassman from March 30 to April 4, 2027, at Via delle Vergini 7 (00187 Rome), with Francesca Agostini, Andrea Di Casa, Alessia Giuliani and Zavatteri himself. Teatro Nazionale di Genova presents it. There are six performances: Tuesday, March 30 at 21:00, Wednesday, March 31 at 19:00, Thursday, April 1 at 17:00, Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3 at 21:00, Sunday, April 4 at 17:00. Tickets are bought from the purchase button on the show's official page on the Quirino website, linked to the authorized presale circuit, or at the theater's box office. Prices are not stated on the show's page and appear at the time of purchase. The theater is in the Trevi district, between Via del Corso and the Trevi Fountain, in a limited traffic zone: for the fastest combination of transit, use the Atac route planner.

Language: opera sung in its original language; no English surtitles are announced, so check with the theater.

Two couples of parents meet in a Parisian living room to settle, like civilized people, a fight between their 11-year-old children in the park. It's the start of one of the most performed comedies of contemporary theater, winner of the Tony Award and the Olivier Award, which Quirino presents as a portrait of a bourgeois interior where the cordial, tolerant atmosphere soon escalates into raw, ferocious tones. The translation is by Laura Frausin Guarino and Ena Marchi. Sets and lighting are by Nicolas Bovey, costumes by Anna Missaglia.

Le dieu du carnage at Quirino: dates, times and tickets

Le dieu du carnage is at Teatro Quirino from March 30 to April 4, 2027 for six performances: three evening ones at 21:00, one at 19:00 and two afternoon ones at 17:00.

The calendar

Tuesday, March 30 at 21:00. Wednesday, March 31 at 19:00. Thursday, April 1 at 17:00. Friday, April 2 at 21:00. Saturday, April 3 at 21:00. Sunday, April 4 at 17:00.

Three different times

The calendar alternates three slots: the full evening, the early start on Wednesday at 19:00 and the afternoon shows on Thursday and Sunday. If you prefer to get home early you have four chances out of six. If you want a post-theater evening downtown, pick Tuesday, Friday or Saturday.

Tickets

The show's official page on the Quirino website links, with the purchase button, to the presale circuit authorized by the theater. The box office on Via delle Vergini sells and reserves during the hours published on the website. Prices are not stated on the show's page: you see them when you choose your seat.

Who produces it

The show is a production of Teatro Nazionale di Genova, born in 2025: the company comes from the Genoese school, and arrives in Rome at the end of the season after the Ligurian debut.

Le dieu du carnage: the plot without giving too much away

Le dieu du carnage tells of the meeting between the parents of two 11-year-old boys, Bruno Houllié and Ferdinand Reille, who never appear on stage: in the park, Ferdinand hit Bruno in the face with a stick.

The Houlliés

Bruno's parents are Véronique, a lover of art and photography, busy writing a book on Darfur, and Michel, a wholesaler of household goods with a very sick mother. They are the hosts: the scene is their living room.

The Reilles

Ferdinand's parents are Annette, a wealth consultant, and Alain, a lawyer always on the phone, busy defending a pharmaceutical company that has put on the market a drug with harmful side effects.

The masks that fall

At the beginning everyone wants to behave like civilized adults. Then, little by little, the masks of benevolence, tolerance, good manners, political correctness and moral rectitude fall. The quarrels explode into brawls between the two families and, above all, between wives and husbands. Under the masks, Quirino writes, appears the grin of the dark deity who has governed men since the dawn of time: the god of massacre.

The table of art books

At the center of the living room is a low table covered with art books, and in the vases two large bunches of tulips: this is Reza's opening stage direction. Anyone who knows the play knows that table will not come out of the evening unscathed. Anyone who doesn't know it would do well not to find out beforehand.

Yasmina Reza, the author

Yasmina Reza, born in Paris on May 1, 1959, is a French playwright, writer, actress and screenwriter. Her plays are translated and performed in many countries.

Origins

Her mother was a Hungarian violinist from Budapest, her father an engineer, businessman and amateur pianist, Iranian, born in Moscow. Reza began in the theater as an actress, in contemporary works and in classics by Molière and Marivaux.

From the first plays to Art

Her first play, Conversations après un enterrement, from 1987, won her the Molière Prize for best author. The second, La traversée de l'hiver, won the Molière for best regional production. International success came with Art, from 1994, translated and performed in more than 30 languages: another Molière, the Olivier Award in London, the Tony Award on Broadway in 1998.

The writer

Alongside theater there are novels and prose: Una desolazione, Uomini incapaci di farsi amare, Felici i felici, Babilonia, Renaudot Prize in 2016, and Serge. In 2007 she followed Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign and drew from it L'alba, la sera o la notte. In 1999 she sat on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival.

Cinema

Reza wrote screenplays for Didier Martiny and, in 2011, for Roman Polański's Carnage, based on Le Dieu du carnage itself. As an actress she was directed, among others, by André Téchiné in Lontano.

God of Carnage around the world

Le Dieu du carnage debuted at Schauspielhaus in Zurich on December 8, 2006, directed by Jürgen Gosch, and within a few years became an international success between Paris, London and New York.

Paris and London

In January 2008 the play arrives in Paris with Isabelle Huppert and Eric Elmosnino. On March 25 of the same year it opens at the Gielgud Theatre in London, in Christopher Hampton's translation and directed by Matthew Warchus, with Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott. The London production wins the Olivier Award.

Broadway

On March 22, 2009 the text debuts on Broadway, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, set in Brooklyn and with the characters' names adapted, with Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden. It was due to close in June 2009 and stays on stage until June 6, 2010, after 452 regular performances. It wins the Tony Award for best play, for Warchus's direction and for Marcia Gay Harden's performance.

In Italy

The Italian premiere was on January 6, 2009 at Teatro Ventidio Basso in Ascoli Piceno, under the title Il dio della carneficina, directed by Roberto Andò with a quartet made up of Anna Bonaiuto, Alessio Boni, Michela Cescon and Silvio Orlando. In 2011, when Polański's film is presented in Venice, Adelphi republishes the text as Il dio del massacro, in the translation by Laura Frausin Guarino and Ena Marchi: the same one used in the Quirino production.

The film

Carnage, from 2011, moves the story to Brooklyn like the Broadway version, with Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet.

Antonio Zavatteri and the Genoese company

Antonio Zavatteri, director and actor, signs the direction of the new production and plays one of the four roles. Quirino presents him as an artist who knows how to work on comedy like few others.

Le prénom

His name is linked above all to the staging of Le prénom, Cena tra amici, by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, in the Italian edition by Fausto Paravidino: a show that has toured Italian theaters since 2015. Zavatteri himself, in the director's notes, compares Reza's educated middle class with that of Le prénom.

The quartet

On stage are Francesca Agostini, Andrea Di Casa, Alessia Giuliani and Zavatteri, all from the Genoa school. The director's notes insist on this point: a quartet of actors who know each other well and have already shared stage experiences, with a natural, well-honed rapport.

The creative team

The pure white set and the lighting design are by Nicolas Bovey, whom Quirino describes as a winner of the most important theater prizes. The minimalist costumes are by Anna Missaglia, who works between prose theater and opera, also internationally.

The staging: no realism, no unnecessary element

Zavatteri's staging starts from Reza's opening stage direction: a living room, no realism, no unnecessary element, the two couples seated facing each other.

A comedy to laugh at

In the director's notes the aim is declared: to respect the rhythm of the comedy and make people laugh at these horrible characters, without denying their essence. The text, the director writes, should be treated as a classic, but it can be an insidious trap.

Between genres

Zavatteri wants the show to disregard genres and float from one to another, as happens in reality: comedy, drama and tragedy live together in the same evening.

Women and men

One aspect to which the direction draws attention is the adult behavior of the women, contrasted with the childish behavior of the men: not a one-sided reading, the notes specify, but a key to keep in mind.

The white space

The space, conceived with Bovey, puts the action in the foreground but has a strong aesthetic character: a pure white set on which, in our view, every misplaced gesture becomes more visible.

A curiosity about Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

The most surprising curiosity concerns the debut. A French comedy, set in a Paris living room and written by a Parisian woman, was not first staged in France but in Switzerland, in German, at Schauspielhaus in Zurich, on December 8, 2006, directed by Jürgen Gosch. Paris saw it only in January 2008, with Isabelle Huppert.

The second curiosity concerns the Italian title. The same text arrived in Italy as Il dio della carneficina, in 2009, in Alessandra Serra's translation, and then as Il dio del massacro, in 2011, with Adelphi. In the second version even the initial of dio became lowercase. The Genoese production chose to keep the original French title, and uses the Adelphi translation by Laura Frausin Guarino and Ena Marchi.

The third concerns an actor. In the first Italian production the role of the lawyer Alain was played by Alessio Boni, and in the very same days when Le dieu du carnage is at Quirino, from March 31, Boni is at Ambra Jovinelli with Molière, l'arte della beffa. In Rome, for a week, one of the historic interpreters of the text performs a few kilometers from the new production.

Teatro Quirino Vittorio Gassman

Teatro Quirino is a horseshoe-shaped hall with two balconies and a gallery, with 852 seats, in the Trevi district. Since 2015 it has been run by Quirino srl, with artistic direction by Guglielmo Ferro.

Born in wood

The first Quirino was commissioned in 1871 by Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, within the grounds of Palazzo Sciarra, with an entrance from Via del Corso. The design was by Giulio De Angelis with Francesco Marra. The theater was made of wood and, according to tradition, was erected in a single day. The name refers to the Quirinal and the god Quirinus.

Rebuilt in masonry

In 1882 the opening of a street between Via del Corso and Trevi forced it to be dismantled. De Angelis rebuilt it in masonry a few meters further on, horseshoe-shaped, with two tiers of boxes, a metal structure and neoclassical cast-iron columns.

Piacentini's hands

Marcello Piacentini worked on it twice: in 1914, with a third tier of boxes and a retractable roof. In 1954, with the cantilevered bleachers and the canopy still visible over the entrance. The theater reopened on October 13, 1955.

Something nobody tells you about Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

What is rarely said is that the two boys, the reason for it all, never appear. Bruno and Ferdinand exist only in the parents' words: the audience will never see the fight, the stick, the park. All the physical violence of the play is narrated. What you see on stage is verbal, and between adults. In our view it is the text's cruelest and most intelligent choice.

The second thing concerns the characters' details, which the audience tends to forget and which instead matter. Véronique is writing a book on Darfur, Alain defends a pharmaceutical company that put a harmful drug on the market, Michel has a very sick mother. Great causes and petty selfishness live together in the same people: that is where Reza drives in the blade.

The third is practical. The Quirino page, in the credits box, mistakenly gives the dates “April 30 . March 4.” The detailed calendar and the show's header clearly state March 30 to April 4, 2027. The correct dates are the latter.

How to get to Teatro Quirino

Teatro Quirino, at Via delle Vergini 7, is in the Trevi district between Via del Corso and the Trevi Fountain, in the historic center in a limited traffic zone.

By public transit

Many surface lines serve Via del Corso and the streets around Trevi. The Atac route planner shows in real time the fastest combination from your starting point, also for the trip home after the 21:00 performances.

On foot

If you're staying downtown you can walk to Quirino: from the Trevi Fountain and from Via del Corso, Via delle Vergini is a few steps away.

By car and taxi

With the ZTL you should leave the car outside the historic center. For the afternoon performances with elderly people, a taxi to the mouth of Via delle Vergini is the most convenient choice.

My advice for visiting Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

My advice is not to watch Polański's Carnage in the days before. The film is well made, but it moves everything to Brooklyn and uses the close-ups of cinema. In the theater the play lives on the rhythm of the lines and on the distance between audience and living room. If you see the film first, you arrive with four faces in your head that are not the ones on the stage. Better the opposite: first the show, then, if you feel like it, the film.

The second tip concerns the performance. On Wednesday, March 31 the show starts at 19:00: in our view it is the best time for anyone who wants to have dinner afterward without getting in late. On Thursday, April 1 and Sunday, April 4 the 17:00 matinees leave the evening free.

The third concerns the seat. A comedy for four, all speech and reactions, is best enjoyed from the orchestra or the central first balcony: the expressions of those who listen count as much as the lines of those who speak. In the higher sections it's better to choose central seats.

The last: go as a couple. The text is about wives and husbands, and the discussion on the way out is part of the show.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It is well known that Le dieu du carnage won the Tony Award. It is remembered less that on Broadway the four original interpreters, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, all received a nomination, but only Marcia Gay Harden won. And it is often forgotten that, when the contracts expired, the New York company was renewed with Ken Stott, already in the London cast, Janet McTeer, also from London, Jimmy Smits, Lucy Liu and others: a sign of a success that lasted more than a year.

The second little-cited fact concerns the critics. Not everyone loved the play: in the Financial Times Brendan Lemon called it an arrogant and superficial show. A text that divides critics, in our view, is almost always a living text.

The third concerns the author. Yasmina Reza has won the Tony Award twice, for Art in 1998 and for Le dieu du carnage in 2009, and the Olivier Award twice more, for the same two plays.

The right photo to take at Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

During the show the phone stays off: in a comedy built on rhythm even a lit screen in the audience is distracting. The right photo is taken beforehand, on Via delle Vergini, at Piacentini's canopy above the entrance: the most visible sign, from the outside, of the theater's twentieth-century transformations.

The second is taken a few steps away, at the Trevi Fountain. For anyone going to the 17:00 matinee in early April the late-afternoon light on the fountain is soft. On leaving the evening performances the illuminated fountain is more crowded, but it remains the district's night postcard.

The third, on theme with the show, is a detail: a bunch of tulips. Tulips are the only flowers on stage in Reza's opening direction. A photo of a bucket of colorful tulips, on the way to the theater, is the most coherent keepsake of the evening.

At the curtain call, if the company allows it, a photo of the white living room with the four performers standing closes the story.

The Trevi district around Quirino

Via delle Vergini is in the Trevi district, below the Quirinal hill that gives the theater its name, a few steps from the Trevi Fountain and Via del Corso.

The Quirinal

Going up you reach Quirinal Palace and the Scuderie del Quirinale, home of major exhibitions: a morning visit and an afternoon show make a full day.

Piazza Colonna

Along Via del Corso you reach Piazza Colonna and Galleria Alberto Sordi, a useful shelter on rainy early-spring days.

Another hall

10 minutes on foot away is Teatro Sala Umberto: if you're staying in Rome a few days you can put together two shows without taking any transport.

Some important events that happened here in history

The history of Teatro Quirino spans more than 150 years of Rome as capital. In 1871 Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra has a wooden theater built on the grounds of Palazzo Sciarra, to a design by Giulio De Angelis and Francesco Marra. The repertoire is popular, with pulcinellate and operettas.

In 1882 the theater is dismantled to open a street between Via del Corso and Trevi, and rebuilt in masonry a few meters further on. In 1898 the interiors are enriched with drapes, velvet and gilded stucco, and the repertoire opens to opera and ballet: in June 1899 Antonino Palminteri conducts there Verdi's I Lombardi and Puccini's Manon Lescaut.

In 1914 Marcello Piacentini lowers the orchestra floor, adds the third tier of boxes and the retractable roof. From 1946 the theater is managed by the Ente Teatrale Italiano. In 1954 Piacentini returns with the cantilevered bleachers, the ETI offices and the canopy, and the theater reopens on October 13, 1955 with 990 seats. In 2009 management passes to Gitiesse Artisti Riuniti of Geppy Gleijeses, in 2015 to Quirino srl, with Guglielmo Ferro as artistic director and Rosario Coppolino as administrator.

Today the theater bears, alongside its historic name, that of Vittorio Gassman.

Who has come through Le dieu du carnage with Antonio Zavatteri at Teatro Quirino, March 30 to April 4, 2027

Teatro Quirino has seen first of all the men who built and transformed it: Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, Giulio De Angelis, Francesco Marra, Marcello Piacentini. On the podium, in June 1899, stood Antonino Palminteri for Verdi and Puccini. After the war the hall was one of the Roman homes of the Ente Teatrale Italiano, and since 2009 it has been led first by Geppy Gleijeses and then by Guglielmo Ferro.

In the 2026/27 season Quirino hosts, among others, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore and Il viaggio di Francesco: a program that alternates classics and comedies.

From March 30 to April 4, 2027 Francesca Agostini, Andrea Di Casa, Alessia Giuliani and Antonio Zavatteri pass through Via delle Vergini, with the team of Teatro Nazionale di Genova, Nicolas Bovey and Anna Missaglia. And with them, in the fiction, the Houlliés and the Reilles, two couples who enter the living room as civilized people and leave it changed: the characters that, in our view, the audience takes home the longest, because they resemble someone they know.

How to plan the evening at Le dieu du carnage

Le dieu du carnage at Quirino has six performances on six consecutive days, from Tuesday to Sunday: the choice of time decides the rest of the day.

If you're coming from outside Rome

If you're coming for the day by train you can pick the 17:00 matinees on Thursday, April 1 or Sunday, April 4: you leave the theater with time to get back to the station without rushing. The advice is to book the return train with a wide margin, because downtown traffic times are unpredictable.

If you're staying downtown

If you're sleeping between Trevi, the Tridente and the Pantheon you walk to the theater and can choose the 21:00 evening performances with no worries about getting back: after the applause, the walk to the hotel is part of the evening.

When to buy

A comedy acclaimed all over the world, for only one week in Rome, with two performances on the weekend: in our view it's best to buy as soon as you decide, especially for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, which are usually the most in-demand performances.

Who to go with to see Le dieu du carnage

Le dieu du carnage is a comedy for adults in the full sense: it's about parents, couples, good manners and what lies beneath.

As a couple

It's the couples' show par excellence: the fights between wives and husbands are the heart of the second half, and on the way out it's hard not to comment on them.

Among parents

For those with school-age kids the starting situation is familiar: a fight between children, a summons between families, the attempt to stay reasonable. Laughing at yourself, here, is almost inevitable.

With teenagers

For high school kids it's a good entry into contemporary theater, with fast dialogue and recognizable themes. The language is direct and at times ferocious, and it is not the right show for young children.

Accessibility at Teatro Quirino

For the conditions of access to the hall for people with disabilities and the dedicated seats, the reference is the box office of Teatro Quirino. The official website has a section dedicated to accessibility.

Before booking

Quirino is a historic theater remodeled several times: it's best to ask which sections can be reached without stairs before choosing your seat.

Getting there

The streets of the Trevi district are paved with sampietrini and often crowded: for those who have difficulty moving, a taxi to the entrance is the safest choice.

Where to eat near Teatro Quirino

The Trevi district is full of restaurants, but many are designed for people who stop at the fountain: to eat well before or after the show it's best to move a few streets away.

Before the matinees

For a light lunch before 17:00, the streets between Via del Corso and the Pantheon area offer trattorias and bakeries. Better to avoid places with the menu photographed in the window on the most crowded squares.

After the Wednesday 19:00 show

The 19:00 performance on Wednesday, March 31 ends in time for a real dinner, without rushing: it's the most convenient evening for anyone who wants theater and table on the same night.

After the evening performances

After the 21:00 performances dinner becomes a post-theater meal: the Pantheon area, 10 minutes on foot away, stays lively until late even on weekdays.

Frequently asked questions about Le dieu du carnage at Quirino

When is Le dieu du carnage on in Rome?

Le dieu du carnage is at Teatro Quirino in Rome from March 30 to April 4, 2027: Tuesday, March 30 at 21:00, Wednesday, March 31 at 19:00, Thursday, April 1 at 17:00, Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3 at 21:00, Sunday, April 4 at 17:00, at Via delle Vergini 7.

Who are the actors in Le dieu du carnage at Quirino?

Le dieu du carnage at Quirino is performed by Francesca Agostini, Andrea Di Casa, Alessia Giuliani and Antonio Zavatteri, who also directs. Sets and lighting are by Nicolas Bovey, costumes by Anna Missaglia. Teatro Nazionale di Genova produces it.

Who wrote Le dieu du carnage?

Le dieu du carnage is a play by the French playwright Yasmina Reza, which debuted in Zurich on December 8, 2006. It won the Olivier Award and the Tony Award for best play. In Italian it is published by Adelphi as Il dio del massacro, in the translation by Laura Frausin Guarino and Ena Marchi.

What is Le dieu du carnage about?

Le dieu du carnage tells of the meeting between two couples of Parisian parents who want to settle civilly a fight between their 11-year-old children: Ferdinand hit Bruno with a stick. Little by little good manners give way and the quarrels explode between the families and within the couples.

How much do tickets for Le dieu du carnage at Quirino cost?

The prices of Le dieu du carnage at Teatro Quirino are not stated on the show's page: they appear at the time of purchase on the authorized presale circuit, reachable from the theater's official website, or you can ask at the box office on Via delle Vergini.

Is Le dieu du carnage the same text as the film Carnage?

Le dieu du carnage is the stage play from which Roman Polański made the film Carnage in 2011, with Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet. The film moves the action to Brooklyn. The Quirino production keeps the Parisian setting.

Are there afternoon performances of Le dieu du carnage?

Le dieu du carnage at Quirino has two afternoon performances at 17:00, on Thursday, April 1 and Sunday, April 4, 2027, and an early performance at 19:00 on Wednesday, March 31. The other three are at 21:00.

Final advice on Le dieu du carnage

In our view, Le dieu du carnage is one of the safest contemporary comedies to see in the theater: an evening of sharp dialogue, four recognizable characters, a living room that becomes a battlefield. The Teatro Nazionale di Genova production bets on rhythm and a tight-knit quartet, in a white set with nothing superfluous. My advice is to arrive without having seen the film, choose the orchestra or the first balcony, prefer the 19:00 performance on Wednesday, March 31 if you want to have dinner afterward, and go as a couple: Yasmina Reza does the rest.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro. Contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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