BELLEVILLE - LA PREMIERE - JUNE, 2015

Belleville

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Hollywood, CA (June 2015) — BELLEVILLE, a simmering thriller about a dysfunctional American couple on an extended vacation in Paris, makes its Los Angeles premiere at the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Written by Amy Herzog and directed by Tessa Rapaczynski, the production will run at the Acme Theater at The Complex (6470 Santa Monica Blvd) on June 20, 21 and 25, 2015.

Abby and Zack were under the impression that Paris was supposed to be for lovers. So why do they feel so much like “strangers in a strange land?” He’s a freshly minted pediatrician working for Doctors Without Borders. She’s a former aspiring actress, now a yoga teacher with no students. She has stopped taking her French lessons. He has his secrets. Their marriage begins to unravel as they discover alien facets of each other – and of themselves.

A subtle excoriation of millennial entitlement and bourgeois values, BELLEVILLE made its debut at the Yale Repertory Theater. The play arrives in Los Angeles improbably made-under, helmed by a collaborative creative team committed to bringing diversity to the stage. The production has been reconceived for the Acme Theater with minimal set design, an incisive focus on character, and bold casting choices.

“A central theme of this play is American privilege,” said Lee Doud, who plays Zack in the upcoming production. Doud is Chinese-American. All previous productions have cast Caucasian actors in the role. “We were all surprised how well Zack read as Asian-American. It adds cultural nuance to the pressure he feels to become a doctor, as well as his profound shame at being caught failing to provide for his family.”

In this troubled household, tension mounts gradually, but things bubble over with occasional outbursts worthy of Gothic melodrama. “The great thing about Fringe is that the landscape is so pluralistic,” said Emily Rutan, the show’s producer and lead actress, alumna of the Broadway conservatory Circle in the Square. “Our production is just as much influenced by Ibsen as it is by Hollywood film noir, or HBO’s GIRLS.”

BELLEVILLE also features Mayank Bhatter and Lara Farasat in supporting roles as Alioune and Amina, a young Muslim couple from whom Abby and Zack rent their apartment.

The Acme Theatre at The Complex
6470 Santa Monica Blvd,
Hollywood, CA 90038

Saturday, June 20 at 3:00 pm
Sunday, June 21 at 5:00 pm
Thursday, June 25 at 6:30