PEDRO CASTILLO IS INNOCENT, Play About Wrongful Conviction, Comes to TNC This Feb

Back in 1992, Fernando Bermudez, a Washington Heights resident, was convicted of a homicide that occurred in Greenwich Village. Eyewitnesses recanted soon after, but he remained in prison. Bermudez was exonerated in 2009, after serving nearly 18 years, going on to win the biggest settlement for an exoneree in the history of New York State.

A new play inspired by Bermudez's life, written by a journalist who covered the case, will debut in February at Theater for the New City just blocks from the site of the crime.

Theater for the New City Executive Director Crystal Field and the Textile Company are presenting PEDRO CASTILLO IS INNOCENT by Claude Solnik, a playwright who reported on the case. The production runs Feb. 4-6 and Feb. 11-13 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 7 and 14 at 3 p.m. at TNC, 155 First Ave. Tickets are $15 at www.theaterforthenewcity.net.

The play tells an emotional story about how an innocent man's incarceration affects him and his family based on his experience. It relies on many aspects of Bermudez's case, but fictionalizes some portions, while telling the story of the impact of incarceration on an innocent man and his family.

Danielle C.N. Zappa directs the production in which John Torres plays Pedro Castillo, Christine Copley plays his wife Gwen and Samantha Masone plays their daughter Kaela. Michael J.Shanahan plays a corrections officer; Michael H. Carlin plays fellow inmate Santos, Laura Leigh Carroll plays Angela (an attorney) and Stephanie Sottile plays Liberty.

The play is based on the life of Fernando Bermudez, who was arrested after his photo was picked out of a pile of pictures. Those who picked the photo soon said they were mistaken. He was not at the scene of the crime, did not know anyone there, had no history of violence and didn't own or use a gun.

"My survival story of enduring over 18 years in a six-by-nine-foot prison cell is a provocation for reform," said Bermudez, who advocates and speaks around the country about the power of persistence and the need for justice reform.

He also called his story "a cautionary tale against this happening to others as a public safety problem that allows true perpetrators to escape punishment while families are ripped apart."

Solnik covered the case as a journalist at New York City weeklies The Villager and Downtown Express and then worked to exonerate him. Bermudez was exonerated in 2009 long after witnesses recanted as a judge declared him "innocent," not simply "not guilty."

More than 2 million people are in prison in the United States, by far the largest number of any nation. Even if the system functions well in most cases, that makes some wrongful convictions inevitable.

"If only 1 percent of the U.S. prison population have been wrongfully convicted, thousands of innocent people are in prison," said Mike Gaynor, a former NYPD homicide detective who obtained key evidence used to exonerate Bermudez.

PEDRO CASTILLO IS INNOCENT looks at the Catch 22 that innocent people encounter, often given severe sentences because of their refusal to admit guilt and show remorse.

Scott Christianson, author of "Innocent" and one of the key advocates who pushed for Bermudez's release, said some problems in the culture of the justice system make wrongful convictions difficult to overturn.

"The root of the problem is that prosecutors refuse to admit their mistakes, even when they know it is wrong," Christianson said. "That is not justice. It is not right. Honesty means admitting you have erred."

Solnik, a journalist and the playwright in residence for the Textile Company, frequently writes plays inspired by true stories. "At its heart, this is a human story," Solnik said of 'Pedro Castillo is Innocent.' "It's about family, friends and cases where the conviction itself can be a kind of crime."

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY is a Pulitzer Prize-winning complex of theaters and a community cultural center that is known for its high artistic standards and widespread community service. One of New York's most prolific theatrical organizations, TNC produces 30-40 premieres of new American plays per year, including at least 10 by emerging and young playwrights. TNC also presents plays by multi-ethnic/multi-disciplinary theater companies such as Mabou Mines, the Living Theater, Bread and Puppet Theater, the San Francisco Mime Troupe and COBU, the Japanese women's drumming and dance group. TNC productions have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and more than 40 OBIE Awards for excellence in every theatrical discipline. TNC is also the only Theatrical Organization to have won the Mayor's Stop The Violence award. For more information, visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net.

THE TEXTILE COMPANY is a theater group that focuses on, but isn't limited to, presenting works inspired by true stories. It is currently presenting work by resident playwright Claude Solnik, an award-winning journalist who weaves stories into shows. For more info., visit www.textilecompanytheater.com.

Pictured: John Torres, Christine Copley and Samantha Masone play a family forced to face the problem of a wrongful conviction based on Fernando Bermudez's story.