The FSU/Asolo Conservatory Presents BELLEVILLE

The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training prepares to open its second show of the 2021-22 season, Amy Herzog's Belleville. Directed by Jesse Jou, the show runs Jan. 5-23, with a pay-what-you-can preview on Jan. 4.

Belleville is "a stylish psychological thriller predicated on the idea that the person closest to you may in fact be a complete stranger" (LA Times). Young Americans Zack and Abby have the perfect ex-pat life in Paris: a funky bohemian apartment in an up-and-coming Belleville, a stable marriage and Zack's noble mission to fight pediatric AIDS. But when Abby finds Zack at home one afternoon when he's supposed to be at work, the questions and answers that follow shake the foundation of their seemingly beautiful life.

"Belleville is both a tragedy and a thriller," said Jou, noting that Herzog's writing astutely observes the ways Abby and Zack distort their own visions of themselves and each other. "The play offers us a lot to contemplate: what it means to know ourselves, when do we know when something is over and what happens next?"

Herzog is an American playwright whose works have earned her numerous awards, including the Whiting Writers Award and the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. Her dramatic comedy 4000 Miles won an Obie Award for Best New American Play and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Belleville was commissioned by Yale Rep, where it premiered in 2011. The play received a Drama Desk nomination and led Herzog to be a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

The cast is comprised of second-year Conservatory students: Dreaa Kay Baudy as Amina, Zoya Martin as Abby, Peter Raimondo as Zack and Jerald Wheat as Alioune. First-year students make up the crew.

The producing and creative team includes Production Manager/Technical Director Chris McVicker, Stage Manager Savannah Heslep, Intimacy Director Crista Marie Jackson, Movement Choreographer Robert Westley, Dialect Coach Fabrice Conte-Williamson, Scenic Designer Jeffrey Weber, Sound Designer Alex Pinchin, Costume Designer April Carswell, Voice & Dialect Coach Patricia Delorey and Movement Coach Eliza Ladd.

Belleville plays Jan. 4-23 in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $32 and are available online at asolorep.org/conservatory/season, by phone at 941.351.8000 or in person at the Asolo Rep Box Office at 5555 N. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. Student prices are also available.

Photo Credit: John Revisky

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