Americans Wreak More Carnage in London???

God of Carnage, by French playwright Yasmina Reza, was one of the big hits of spring 2008 in the West End, with a record-breaking six-week run at the Gielgud Theatre. Rather than recast the four-hander – which starred Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, Ken Stott and Janet McTeer – producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers decided to “finish on a high” in London last June ahead of the play’s Broadway premiere (See News, 2 May 2008).

Well, that Broadway premiere happened last week, and it’s been such a success that there’s now talk of the play transferring back to London – in a revised form. The West End production retained Reza’s original French setting, while the Broadway production was Americanised. According to the Daily Mail, Pugh now wants to bring the play back with American names. The current Broadway cast are all familiar screen faces: Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini (arguably the most famous, from his many years on The Sopranos).

Meanwhile, Theatre Royal Bath Productions has just complete a major UK tour of the play with another quartet of bankable names: Richard E Grant, Roger Allam, Serena Evans and Lia Williams. Which set of stars might achieve the greater box office success?