Open auditions for our next production.

We had planned to do this last year but the licence was withdrawn. Now that our plan to stage The Birthday Party has suffered the same fate, we have been able to secure a licence for this play.

You do not need to be a member to audition, but if cast you will need to join – it’s only £10 per annum. Members must be aged 18 or over.

There will be several auditions over a period of a few days, so hopefully you can get to one – just turn up. If you are interested but can’t get to one of those dates, please let us know. There’s no need to prepare an audition piece.

Performances are in late May, subject to licensing, in a local venue.

Rehearsals will initially be two evenings a week, on days to suit the cast. There will be more frequent rehearsals nearer the performances. Our guidance note gives more about taking part.

About the play

One set of parents, the Reilles, travel to the apartment of another, the Vallons, to discuss a confrontation between their children in which the Vallons’ son was injured. Over the course of an hour, the mood turns from forced politeness to outright warfare, both between and within each couple… God of Carnage is a claustrophobic comedy that gleefully reveals the repressed primal instincts lurking beneath the veneer of bourgeois good manners.

Set in France, it has been translated, but there are still a few French names and terms involved. Guidance will be given on pronunciation!

The characters

Véronique Vallon – a writer who also works part-time in a bookshop, passionate about art, culture, and social justice, especially interested in Africa. Tries so hard to convince herself of the virtue of good liberal middle-class values that she finds it hard to cope when this attitude is challenged.

Michel Vallon – runs a household goods wholesale company, seemingly mild-mannered and trying to be fair and ingratiating to everyone. Under pressure eventually reveals himself to be deeply resentful of being forced to fit in with his wife’s ideals, and of feeling trapped within family life.

Annette Reille – “in wealth management”, initially conciliatory but increasingly pushes back against what she sees as the Vallons’ hypocrisies and judgemental attitudes. Despairs of Alain’s absence as a husband and father.

Alain Reille – a corporate lawyer, wedded to his clients and his mobile phone, somewhat distant and disengaged from everyday family life. Open and unapologetic about putting work first and his cynical attitude to existence.

Playing ages are flexible; the couples each have sons of around 11 years old, but they could of course be adopted.