Penguin Rep Announces 2025 Season Lineup

Penguin Rep Theatre has announced its 2025 season, featuring four mainstage productions, including three world premieres.

The company will also transfer its acclaimed production of Gene & Gilda to Off-Broadway this summer. By Penguin's playwright in residence Cary Gitter, the play had sold-out runs in Stony Point when it premiered in 2023 and at New Jersey's George Street Playhouse this past winter.

The season at Penguin's intimate venue in Rockland County officially kicks off June 6 with Miracle on South Division Street, a comedy by Nyack resident Tom Dudzick.

16 years after the play was developed and originally produced at Penguin (under the title Our Lady of South Division Street), "the Miracle comes home," says Mr. Brancato who will direct the revival.

"Their neighborhood may be depressed, but not the Nowak family who always thought they were special," says Mr. Brancato. "That is, until a deathbed confession shakes the family to its very core and their beliefs begin to unravel with heartfelt and hilarious results."

Following its world premiere at Penguin in 2009, Miracle was published by Playscripts Inc. and subsequently produced in 27 states, Canada, India, Israel, and South Africa.

Performances of Miracle on South Division Street will run through June 29.

From July 11 through July 27, the company transports us to Hell's Kitchen when it premieres Son of Zeus, a new play written and performed by Jimmy Georgiades, the Greek-American son of a single mother who worked as a belly dancer. "It's A Bronx Tale meets Zorba the Greek," says Mr. Brancato, "a captivating story about family lost, family found, and the challenges of living up to - or letting go of - expectations."

Son of Zeus will be directed by playwright, lyricist and actress Gretchen Cryer, who, with Nancy Ford, created the successful stage musicals I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road and The Last Sweet Days of Isaac.

Next up, from August 15 through September 7, is the world premiere of Castling written by Anthony T. Goss and directed by Daniel Boisrond. In this heartwarming new comedy, 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.

The mainstage season concludes with the world premiere of John J. Wooten's Flawless, which is described by Mr. Brancato, who will stage the play, as "a striking and humorous new work about the impending intersection of technology, creativity and chemistry." A writer and a software designer battle to create the next great play. But will their flirtation with artificial intelligence (AI) lead to theatrical success.

Flawless will be presented from September 26 through October 19.

Performances of mainstage productions 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.

Performances 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.

Season tickets are on sale now. Prices for the mainstage season start as low as $160 for the four plays, a savings of nearly 25% off the cost of individual tickets.

"The very best seats in the house go to subscribers before single tickets go on sale," says Mr. Horn. For no additional charge, he says, patrons can select a value-added subscription series that includes post-performance discussions among the artists and audience, coffee and cake with the cast, and pre-show tastings supplied by local restaurants.

An additional incentive to purchase season tickets, says Horn, "is to dine out at a discount, with select restaurants offering special benefits to Penguin subscribers."

Individual tickets go on sale May 9. Tickets are priced at $52. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under).

New this season is the introduction of Cheap Thrills Fridays - June 6, July 11, August 15 and September 26 at 7:30 p.m. - when tickets are $26, half the regular price, and Posa Posa Pizza Fridays - June 20, July 25, August 29 and October 10 - when audience members are invited to arrive early and enjoy a slice supplied by the popular Nanuet restaurant.

"We hate service charges, facility fees, credit card surcharges, and any kind of additional fee," says executive director Horn, "so we don't charge them!"

Additional details about the 2025 season, including casting, concerts, readings, and special events, will be announced in coming weeks.