Fisher, Kupferer, Lacke, & Pasquesi Lead GOD OF CARNAGE at Goodman in 2011

Casting is complete for the Chicago premiere of Yasmina Reza's triple Tony Award-winning God of Carnage. Director Rick Snyder directs a cast "in which highly skilled stage performers take on roles that allow them to rip the stuffing out of one another, tear up the scenery, stomp on their own vanity and have the time of their lives" (The New York Times) including Mary Beth Fisher (Rock ‘n' Roll, The Seagull); Keith Kupferer (Passion Play, The Dark Night); Beth Lacke (Man From Nebraska, Frost/Nixon) and David Pasquesi (Sin, Romance). God of Carnage runs March 5 - April 10, 2011 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre. Photos and bio information for these artists are available in the Goodman Theatre Press Room. Allstate is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of God of Carnage. Katten Muchin Rosenman and Fifth Third Bank are the Corporate Sponsor Partners.

A comedy of manners without the manners, this triple-Tony-Award-winning Broadway sensation God of Carnage is "a savvy and deliciously caustic new comedy" (Chicago Tribune). When Alan and Annette's son hits Michael and Veronica's son with a stick, the two couples meet to discuss the problem over appetizers. What starts as a civilized get-together quickly devolves into a laugh-out-loud evening that The New Yorker calls "ninety minutes of sustained mayhem." In unanimous critical praise for its Broadway debut, God of Carnage has been hailed "first class" (New York Times) "the best play in town!" (New York Post) and "scabrously funny" (USA Today) and earned the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and three Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Tickets to God of Carnage ($25 - $88) go on sale February 4 online (www.GoodmanTheatre.org) and February 7 by phone (312.443.3800). Subscriptions-a savings of up to 45% over single ticket prices-to the 2010/2011 season are on sale now: 312.443.3800 or ExploreTheGoodman.org. Four-play Albert Theatre subscriptions start at $79 and 2-play Owen Theatre subscriptions start at $38. A Platinum Subscription of all six plays starts at $117. Artists, dates and ticket prices are subject to change.

Playwright Yasmina Reza is a multi-award-winning French playwright, novelist and memoirist. Her work has been translated into more than 30 languages and been produced worldwide, and has achieved both critical praise and popular international success. She is the author of seven plays, including Conversations After a Burial, Winter Crossing, Art, The Unexpected Man, Life x 3, A Spanish Play and God of Carnage; the novels Desolation, Adam Haberberg, and On Arthur Schopenhauer's Sledge; the memoirs Hammerklavier and Nulle part; and Dawn, Dusk or Night, a nonfiction account of a year she spent trailing French president (then-candidate) Nicholas Sarkozy on the campaign trail. Her film credits include Le Pique-Nique de Lulu Kreutz directed by Didier Martiny, a translation of Kafka's Metamorphosis for Roman Polansky, and Chicas, which she wrote and directed herself. Reza resides in Paris.

Rick Snyder (Director) returns to the Goodman where he has directed The Actor and The Disappearance of the Jews for the 2006 David Mamet Festival, and appeared as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Other Chicago directing credits include Art, Betrayal, Last of the Boys, Tavern Story, Things Being What They Are, Orange Flower Water and The Fall to Earth at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where he is an Ensemble Member; Killer Joe (Jeff Awards for Outstanding Director and Production) and Men of Tortuga at Profiles Theatre; Mauritus at Northlight Theatre; The Lion in Winter and Bus Stop at Writers' Theatre; Aristocrats at Strawdog Theatre Company; Jolly and St. Scarlet at American Theater Company; and Cadillac at Theatre of Western Springs. As an actor, Snyder has appeared in August: Osage County and The Unmentionables at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His film and television credits include Early Edition, The Untouchables, Chicago Hope, The Tuskegee Airmen, Alien Nation Millenium, The Net, Whiteboys, Soul Survivors, The Human Stain and U.S. Marshals. He teaches at Columbia College Chicago in the Film and Video Department.

Goodman Theatre, "the leading regional theater in the nation's most important theater city" (Time), is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago, generating nearly $300 million in economic impact over the past decade in its state-of-the-art two-theater complex on North Dearborn Street. Founded in 1925 and currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls, "Chicago's most essential director" (Chicago Tribune), and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, Chicago's oldest and largest not-for-profit resident theater has experienced unprecedented success over the past 10 years in its new downtown facility, welcoming nearly 2 million patrons to productions and events-including 10 festivals celebrating playwrights such as David Mamet, August Wilson and Horton Foote, as well as the biennial Latino Theatre Festival-serving 30 percent more students through its Education and Community Engagement programs (including the FREE Student Subscription Series and other interactive programs) and employing more than 3,000 artists and theater professionals. The Goodman has earned more than 90 awards for hundreds of productions, including the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined by Lynn Nottage-one of 25 new-work Goodman commissions in the last decade. The chairman of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees is Patricia Cox and Joan Clifford is President of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Visit GoodmanTheatre.org and discover the 2010/2011 Season at ExploreTheGoodman.org.