All Stars Project, Inc.- Castillo Theatre

Castillo Performs the World
Embarking on its 25th theatre season, the Castillo Theatre brings experimental political theatre, dealing with contemporary and historical social issues, to the heart of New York's commercial theatre district.

A showplace for the plays of Fred Newman and Heiner Müller, a multicultural home for Black theatre, and a hotbed of theatrical improvisation, Castillo includes people of all ages and backgrounds in its creative life — from raising and contributing money to being part of the house staff to performing on stage. Castillo works and plays side-by-side with the developmental youth programs of the All Stars Project, which bring theatre to the whole city (and then some!).

In October 2008, the All Stars will host "Performing the World," a unique conference/festival that brings together hundreds of performance advocates from around the world — theatre artists, educators, youth workers, psychologists, community organizers and others — who use performance to help further human development.

This season, Castillo — long a center of performance activism — will present the work of playwrights from Germany and Martinique, as well as Bed-Stuy and the Bronx; directors from the avant-garde theatres of Europe and the modern dance world of New York; and welcome audiences from the diverse communities of the city…and the world. Castillo's 25th season will be a playground of the social imagination.

Located at the All Stars Project's performing arts and learning center on West 42nd Street, the Castillo Theatre brings challenging, thought-provoking entertainment to the heart of New York's theatre district. Since 1983, Castillo has staged over 130 productions — from multi-cultural and avant-garde plays, to musicals and performance projects.

			What Is To Be Dead? (Philosophical Scenes) September 26-October 26, 2008 More Info Time spins out of control, shifting between Russia in the early 20th century and Harlem a hundred years later; characters change identities; and every answer opens into a new question.
			This Is Your Ridiculous Life!! Saturdays, October 18 & 25, 2008 Saturday, November 1, 2008 Saturdays, December 6 & 13, 2008 More Info Audience members brave the stage for an impromptu conversation with a therapist. On the spot, the Castillo Players transform their life stories into improvised scenes. Hilarity ensues. Lather, rinse and repeat. Don’t miss the triumphant return of Castillo’s most ridiculous offering!
			Young Playwrights From Castillo November 14–December 14, 2008 More Info For the first time ever, Castillo presents a series of new plays — entertaining, experimental and developmental — by young, socially-engaged playwrights and directors new to the Castillo stage.
			Coming of Age in Korea January 16–March 1, 2009 It's the end of the Korean War and three young GIs from New York City — one Latino, one Black and one Jewish — confront the harassment of the brass, the racism of the military and the brutality of the United States occupation of South Korea. Coming of Age in Korea also features music by Fred Newman and Grammy-winning composer Annie Roboff that takes us on a journey through the "coming of age" of American popular music — blues, swing, doo-wop, rock and country.
			A Season in the Congo March 6–29, 2009 A Season in the Congo is an epic drama about a major turning point in the Cold War and in the history of Africa —the CIA-engineered assassination of Patrice Lumumba, leader of the independence movement of the Congo. It is one of the few plays written by the late Aimé Césaire, one of the great surrealist poets of the 20th century and a founder of the Negritude Movement.
			Hamletmachine April 17–May 17, 2009 Heiner Müller’s masterwork deconstructs and reconstructs not only Shakespeare's Hamlet, but all of modernism into an intense, nightmarish dramatic poem. Considered by many to be the first classic of the postmodern theatre, this production features musical design by Fred Newman, including his original songs and a rap finale by All Stars alumna Browneyes.
			All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret June 5–20, 2009 Hip-hop cabaret is a new theatre form, drawing on emerging talent from the All Stars Talent Show Network, and melding the provocation of European political cabaret with the creativity and energy of hip-hop. The result is an edgy and entertaining mix of song, dance, rap and spoken word created by the young performers themselves, that springs from the streets of New York with something important to say to the world.