Crime scene: school playground. Eleven-year-old Ferdinand knocks two incisors out of the chewing bar of Bruno, who is the same age. A suboptimal incident that brings the parents of both boys together for a clarifying discussion. After all, they are civilized, diplomatically stylish and serious adults.

A porcelain cup of coffee, a few friendly words and all is right with the world again. Or so you think. But that's not how things work between Ferdinand and Bruno's parents. First there is banter, then completely different words are unpacked, a hand reaches ... not for the cup, but for the other's throat.

With diabolical humor and merciless accuracy, author Yasmina Reza mirrors our bourgeois society, which is torn between enlightened do-gooderism and selfish competition. As soft as we may be, in the end only one will prevail: the God of Carnage.