His response is strong — he sees the splendour and excesses in sharp contrast to the merger morsels leftover for the working class who toil in the fields and fuel the capitalist, bourgeois experiment. Florent reconnects with his sister who is now running a charcuterie and a cog in the wheel running on the backs of the poor. He sees the whole thing as inseparable from the government policies which propel these inequalities and attempts an insurrection. 

If this sounds serious, rest assured there are plenty of laughs, love affairs, art treatise, and ironic deaths by meat pie, which balance the darker themes explored in Zola’s writing. 

And if this sounds like a story which resinates with the themes of our 21st century American life, then you’ll be delighted, I’m sure, to hear that our adaptation of Zola’s work will indeed explore the notion of income inequality, and the insatiable thirst for greed which modern capitalist society has all but baked into the mold. 

In residence at the Adams Theatre, Fall 2025.

Recipient of a 2025 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant.