Dobama opens new season with 'Belleville' and as an Equity theater

Dobama’s 2014–15 season will mark its first as the region’s newest Equity theater, which means that the industry considers it to be a fully professional theater.

Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union that represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the United States, was founded in 1913. Like other labor unions, Actors’ Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits for its members.

Justly proud of its Equity status, Dobama is offering an exciting and diverse selection of plays, opening with “Belleville” by Amy Herzog on Friday, Sept. 5.

Dobama fans may remember Herzog’s “4,000 Miles,” starring Dorothy Silver, from a previous season. “Belleville” finds a young American couple—Abby and Zack—living in the Belleville section of Paris. Their life together is going well until Abby comes home early to find Zack not at work. Their lives begin to unravel in this Hitchcock-inspired play.

Playwright Herzog has received commissions from Yale Repertory Theater (New Haven), Steppenwolf (Chicago) and Playwrights Horizon (New York). She is also the recipient of several awards, including the Whiting Writers Award, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity, and The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. She has taught playwriting at Bryn Mawr College and Yale University.

Director Corey Atkins, associate producer at the Cleveland Play House, is no stranger to Dobama’s stage. He directed Dobama’s acclaimed production of “Cock” last season. Atkins is a Drama League Directing Fellow, a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and was a finalist for the 2010 Sir John Gielgud Fellowship. He holds an M.F.A. in directing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Performances of  “Belleville” are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. For a complete schedule, ticket prices, and reservations, call the Dobama Theatre box office at 216-932-3396. Ask about reduced prices for RUSH tickets (as available, no earlier that five minutes before curtain), the preview performance on Thursday, Sept. 4, and the "pay-as-you-can" performance on Sunday, Sept. 7.