Castillo Theatre Announces Young Playwrights From Castillo Festival

The Castillo Theatre (Dan Friedman, artistic director, Diane Stiles, managing director, festival director, Craig Pattison) is underway with rehearsals for the Young Playwrights From Castillo festival, featuring six new scripts written over the course of a year-long writing workshop led by Castillo's artistic director, Dan Friedman. Three of the scripts will comprise the winter portion of the festival (March 4-6), the remaining three the summer portion (June 24-26).

Part One consists of: Nine Falls From Grace: The Political Guide To Navigating Heaven by Darnelle Cadet, directed by Ruby Lawrence; I Am What I Am Not by William H.E.J. Santos, directed by Ben Vershbows; and Bruised by Sita Sarkar, directed by Brittney Jensen. The cast for the young playwrights festival is drawn from the alumni of the Youth Onstage Community Performance School.

Artistic director Dan Friedman considers this festival to speak to the heart of the community-building model that is Castillo's heart, "... one might assume that everyone has an equal chance to write a play-to shape a vision and give voice on stage to one's relationships, experiences, concerns, and dreams. But how can you find that vision and voice if no one around you (including yourself) ever considers the possibility that you could write a play?" This festival creates possibilities for the young artists.

The Castillo Theatre asked its Youth Onstage! graduates to write plays about the issues they were interested in and over the course of the past year, six unflinching new plays have emerged. These world premiere productions explore revolution (in heaven), therapy (on the street) and a fractured young female psyche in revolt. Graduates of Youth Onstage! have teamed up with professional theatre directors to bring these uncompromising plays to vivid life. The next generation of activist theatre artists swaggers onto Castillo's stages March 4-6 for four performances only.

Performances are one weekend only: Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 5 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. Group rates are available. Tickets can be purchased through the Castillo Box Office at 212-941-1234 or go to www.castillo.org.

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