CASTLING Comes to Penguin Rep

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of Joe Brancato, founding Artistic Director, and Andrew M. Horn, Executive Director, will present the world premiere of Castling, a new play by Anthony T. Goss, directed by Daniel Boisrond, beginning Friday, August 15 in Stony Point, New York.

According to Mr. Brancato, Castling is a heartwarming new play about workers at a local tire shop play chess as part of their daily morning ritual. But when their longstanding workplace becomes the target of a business takeover, they must scramble to avoid being put in the ultimate checkmate.

A finalist for the 2024 Premiere Stages New Play Series, Castling will be performed through Sunday, September 7.

Playwright Goss explains that the title Castling “has a double meaning in the play. First, the move is the only chess move that allows two pieces on the board to move at the exact same time. Secondly, it refers to the ‘castles’ being built all around us due to gentrification.” Thus, he says, he was motivated “to use chess not only as the game these characters play, but as a metaphor for how they must live and move on a daily basis.”

A self-proclaimed "hooper turned artist" originally from Boston, Massachusetts where he played college basketball, Mr. Goss is now an actor and writer in New York City where he is a playwright in residence with the National Black Theatre.

The cast under Mr. Boisrond’s direction features Lamar K. Cheston (NAACP award-winning Black Angels Over Tuskegee), Kashayna Johnson (Helen Hayes Award nominee), David Roberts (Winner, AUDELCO Award for Best Lead Actor in a Dramatic Play), and Junie Smith (Film: A Different Man, Good Morning Vietnam, Lethal Weapon 2).

Designers Christopher and Justin Swader (scenic – The Sabbath Girl, Small, The Steel Man), Kwamina Biney (sound – The Sabbath Girl: A New Musical), and Dana R. Weintraub (properties – Miracle on South Division Street, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, The Steel Man) return to Penguin for this production and are joined by John T. Alexander (lighting designer) and Nia Safarr Banks (Costume Designer). Michael Palmer is the production stage manager.

Performances of Castling are scheduled at Penguin Rep Theatre, a repurposed hay barn located at 7 Crickettown Road. “The converted barn, circa 1880, has never been more inviting” (The New York Times). Says Mr. Horn, “It’s theatre so close you can feel it, with comfortable upholstered seats and no seat more than 30 feet from the stage.” The theatre is air conditioned, handicapped accessible, and has plenty of free parking.

Shows will take place: Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., select Friday matinees at 2:00 p.m., select Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are priced at $52. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under). 

There will be cake and coffee with the cast following the official opening on Sunday, August 17. Big Daddy’s Home Plate BBQ of Haverstraw will offer a tasting before the matinee on Saturday, August 23. Following the show on Friday, August 29 will be a discussion among the artists and audience.