Penguin Rep Theatre to Continue Season with BECOMING DR. RUTH, 8/14-9/6

Following the sold-out success of My Name is Asher Lev, Penguin Rep Theatre continues its 2015 season - the Rockland County-based professional company's 38th -- with Becoming Dr. Ruth, a play by Mark St. Germain. Directed by Stephen Nachamie, Becoming Dr. Ruth will be performed August 14 through September 6 in Stony Point, New York.

Tickets for Becoming Dr. Ruth are on sale now at the Penguin box office. Call (845) 786-2873 or visit penguinrep.org.

"Meet America's most famous sex therapist," says Penguin Rep artistic director Joe Brancato. "Everyone knows Dr. Ruth Westheimer from her career on radio and TV. Few, however, know the incredible journey that preceded it."

As a 10-year-old girl, she was put on a train to Switzerland from Germany. Her father had already been taken away by the Nazis. While in an orphanage in Switzerland, she would lose her entire family in the Holocaust. Following the war, she had no real home, no close family and no proper education. What she did have, she says, was a zest for life. Bouncing from Israel to France and eventually the U.S., Dr. Ruth found her true calling in a career she never would have imagined: Sex therapy.

The play by Mark St. Germain, the award-winning playwright, author, film and television writer whose work for the stage includes The Fabulous Lipitones, which was seen at Penguin last summer, and the long-running Off Broadway hit Freud's Last Session, "is filled with the humor, honesty and life-affirming spirit of Karola Ruth Siegel, the girl who became Dr. Ruth," says Mr. Brancato.

Anne O'Sullivan, who understudied the title role in the recent Off Broadway production, stars.

Dr. Ruth (herself) and Mr. St. Germain will be in attendance at the opening performance, on Sunday, August 16. They will participate in a talk-back with the audience, followed by coffee and cake.

The production team includes designers Emily Auciello (sound), Brian Prather (set and projections), and John Wilder (lights); properties/technical director Rick Apicella; and stage manager Cameron Berne.

Performance days and times are: Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

A special reduced-priced weekday matinee performance is slated for Friday, August 14, at 2:00 p.m.

Following the show on Friday, August 21, there will be a discussion among the actors, author and audience.

Before the 4:00 p.m. show on Saturday, August 22, there will be a complimentary tasting catered by a local restaurant.

Performances are scheduled at Penguin's intimate theatre, located at 7 Crickettown Road in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

"It's theatre so close you can feel it", says Penguin Rep executive director Andrew M. Horn, "with comfy upholstered seats and no seat more than 30 feet from the stage." The theatre, which is converted from an 1880's hay barn, is air conditioned, wheelchair accessible, and offers plenty of free parking.

Tickets to Becoming Dr. Ruth are priced at $40 each (plus a $1 per ticket service charge). An early ordering discount ($32) is available if tickets are ordered prior to August 16. Discounts are also available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under).

To order tickets or for further information, visit Penguin Rep's website at www.penguinrep.org or call 845-786-2873.

Under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Brancato and Mr. Horn, Penguin Rep Theatre has grown in 37 years from a summer theatre in a converted 1880's hay barn to become one of the Hudson Valley's most influential nonprofit cultural institutions.

Founded in 1977 by Mr. Brancato and trustee Francine Newman-McCarthy, Penguin now reaches tens of thousands of theatergoers, students, and artists each year at its home theatre in Stony Point, in New York City and beyond - with plays and productions premiered by Penguin moving to Off Broadway and to stages across the country and around the world.

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2015 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Penguin Rep also gratefully acknowledges the support of the County of Rockland and the Town of Stony Point, as well as the Shubert Foundation, the Cory and Bob Donnalley Charitable Foundation, and the Rockland Community Foundation.

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