Jesse Eisenberg to Star in 'Asuncion' Off Broadway

NEW YORK – Jesse Eisenberg, the Oscar-nominated star of The Social Network, will make his professional New York debut as a playwright with an Off Broadway production of Asuncion in the fall.

The play centers on two friends who view themselves as open-minded liberals – one blogs about American imperialism; the other is finishing a PhD in Black Studies – and how those self-perceptions are challenged when a young Filipina woman becomes their new roommate.

Eisenberg also will appear in the play, directed by Kip Fagan. Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater as part of its 2011-12 season, but running off-site at the Cherry Lane Theatre, the production will begin previews Oct. 12 for an official Oct. 27 opening.

Prior to playing Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network,  Eisenberg’s  film roles included The Squid and the Whale, Roger Dodger and Zombieland. His last New York stage appearance was in Lucy Thurber’s Scarcity at Off Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company in 2007.

In addition to Asuncion, Eisenberg has written another play, The Revisionist, as well as writing the score and lyrics to a musical titled Me Time!