From the writer of the critically lauded 4000 Miles presented as part of Red Stitch’s 2013 season, Amy Herzog returns with Belleville – a chilling interrogation of deception and dependency.
Ex-pat Americans Zack and Abby appear to have it all: an apartment in a promising neighbourhood in Paris, an affectionate marriage, and Zack’s admirable mission to eradicate pediatric AIDS through his work with Doctors Without Borders.
A young couple living away from their friends and family, fears and secrets simmer until they are balancing dangerously close to a precipice that will change everything. What are the limits of trust and truth, and who will break them?
Belleville is directed by Denny Lawrence, who makes a welcome return to Red Stitch ten years after directing Loyal Women. Denny’s many screenwriting and television directing credits include Bodyline, The Bill, Palace of Dreams, The Man from Snowy River and MDA. In recent years, he has directed for the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney, and Tisch New Theatre and Theatre East in New York.
A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Amy Herzog is an American playwright, whose plays include 4000 Miles, After the Revolution, and The Great God Pan. Her plays have received numerous award nominations including the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (4000 Miles) and the 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (Belleville) for female playwrights.
Amy is a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Helen Merrill, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, and the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award.
I called Herzog’s 4000 Miles the best play of last year, but Belleville is a worthy rival —convincing evidence that, among the new crop of young American playwrights, Herzog is in a class by herself. – Richard Zoglin, Time Magazine
Director: Denny Lawrence Featuring: Paul Ashcroft, Christina O’Neill, Tariro Mavondo & Renaud Momtbrun Set Design: Jacob Battista Lighting Design: Clare Springett Sound Design: Chris Wenn
Belleville
Red Stitch Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel Street, East St. Kilda
Season: 30 April – 31 May 2014
Bookings: (03) 9533 8083 or online at: www.redstitch.net
For more information, visit: www.redstitch.net for details.
Image: courtesy of Red Stitch Actors Theatre