David Nackman as 'Rivin' in the 2001 Castillo Theatre production of What Is To Be Dead? (Philosophical Scenes), which will be revived this season on 42nd Street.

Castillo Theatre, Youth Onstage! and the All Stars Talent Show Network are all gearing up for a full and lively fall production schedule. After our “lay-over” while our center was getting upgraded, it is great to be performing on our own boards once more!  This is Your Ridiculous Life!! warmed us up this summer, and we kick off our main stage productions with a special pre-season showing of the Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Playwriting Contest winner, Patriot Act: A Reality Show by Charles A. Duncombe, directed by Valentina Fratti (yes, that’s more than a coincidence!). The show will feature Castillo’s own David Nackman and Ellen Korner in this cunning one-act that plays with language and ideology.   Patriot Act will run from September 5th through the 21st.   The play follows the interview of a conservative middle-aged white working class man who thinks he’s auditioning for a reality show, “American Patriot.”

Next up is a Castillo classic, What Is to Be Dead? (Philosophical Scenes), written and directed by Fred Newman.  In this play Newman, ever the philosopher, plays with the notions of identity and time, following two sets of characters, one in late 19th Century Russia, the other at the end of the 20th Century in Harlem, as they are pulled between hate and hope, action and passivity, life and death.  The cast features Castillo company members Kenneth Hughes and Vicky Wallace, along with Castillo favorites Christine Tracy (Sapphire’s Kiss, Stealin’ Home, Sessions With Jesus) and Walter Puryear (Boy X Man, Hot Snow, A Season in the Congo).  What is To Be Dead? opens on September 26th and runs until October 26th.

With these two philosophically probing productions, Castillo launches its second quarter century of experimental work and a season of compelling international political theatre.