Penguin Rep Theatre Presents New Comedy “Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help”

Penguin Rep Theatre under the leadership of founding artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn presents Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a new comedy set in the era of bell bottoms, cassette tapes and landline phones by Katie Forgette, directed by Thomas Caruso, June 23 through July 16.

Travel back to 1973 when the O'Shea family faces a crisis of biblical proportions sparked by a conversation about “the birds and the bees” that threatens to turn into a parish-wide scandal. With their good name at stake, the household must work together to preserve their honor and prove that nothing is more sacred than family.

The cast includes Jennifer Blood as Jo (Broadway: Girl from the North Country, Matilda, Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder); Abby Burris as Linda (Regional: U.S. premiere of Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes at Bridge Street Theatre); Gabriella Cila as Becky (Regional: How I Learned to Drive at Playmakers Rep); Mat Hostetler as Mike (Broadway: Death of a Salesman; National Tour: War Horse); and Kellie Overbey as Terri (Broadway: The Coast of Utopia, Twentieth Century, Judgment at Nuremberg, Present Laughter, Buried Child).

Director Thomas Caruso’s credits include the National Tours of Matilda, Ghost and Master Class. He recently directed Bradley Whitford and Kate Burton in A Christmas Carol in Los Angeles; the Off-Broadway musical, Emojiland (NY Times Critics Pick, 4 Drama Desk Award Nominations, and an Off-Broadway Alliance Award Nomination: Best Musical); and the critically acclaimed musical Southern Comfort (The Public Theatre, NY Times Critics Pick, 3 Lucille Lortel Award and 2 OCC Award nominations including: Best New Musical).

For Penguin, he previously directed, among others, I and You, Clever Little Lies, Don’t Talk to the Actors, and Over the Tavern.

The production is designed by Christopher Fleming (set), Vanessa Leuck (costumes), Pamela Kupper (lights), Joel Abbott (sound), Bobbie Zlotnik (wigs), and Buffy Cardoza (props). Michael Palmer is the production stage manager.

Performances are scheduled at Penguin’s home facility, a repurposed 1880 barn in historic Stony Point (Rockland County), New York. “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 and handicapped accessible, features assistive hearing devices, and has plenty of free parking.

Performances will take place: Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (June 29, July 6, July 13), Friday matinees at 2:00 p.m. (June 23, June 30, July 7), Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (June 23, July 14), Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (June 24, July 1, July 8, July 15), and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. (June 25, July 2, July 9, July 16).

There will be a reception following the performance Sunday, June 25, a tasting catered by TFS (The Filling Station) of West Haverstraw before the early show on Saturday, July 1, and a discussion following the performance on Friday, July 14.

Individual tickets for mainstage productions are priced at $46. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more and young people (30 and under).

“We hate service charges, facility fees, credit card surcharges, and any kind of additional fee,” says Mr. Horn, “so we don’t charge them!”

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

About Penguin Rep Theatre

Penguin Rep Theatre (Penguin Players, Ltd.), based in a converted 1880s barn in historic Stony Point (Rockland County), New York, is a nonprofit professional theatre company now in its 45th year of operation.

Joe Brancato was a high school English and drama teacher in 1977 when he peered into an abandoned 1880s hay barn in Stony Point, New York, and envisioned the space repurposed into a theatre.

More than 40 years later, Penguin Rep – the theatre Brancato started with Francine Newman-McCarthy and runs with executive director Andrew M. Horn -- has grown from a summer theatre to become one of the Hudson Valley’s most enduring cultural institutions, reaching tens of thousands of theatergoers each year at its home, in New York City and beyond – with its work moving to Off Broadway and to stages across the country and around the world.

Since its founding in 1977, Penguin has presented more than 150 productions – over 100 directed by Brancato himself -- for more than 400,000 people from the lower Hudson Valley and beyond. And Mr. Brancato has brought together accomplished professional actors – David Canary, Michael Cullen, Tim De Kay, Gregg Edelman, Michael Esper, Barbara Feldon, Tovah Feldshuh, Beth Fowler, Deborah Hedwall, Celeste Holm, Richard Kline, Andrew McCarthy, Lizbeth Mackay, Michele Pawk, and Karen Ziemba, among others – to star in new and noteworthy plays by such playwrights as Lee Blessing, Ronald Harwood, Allan Knee, Arthur Laurents, Warren Leight, Jon Marans, William Mastrosimone, Lainie Robertson, James Sherman and Elizabeth Swados.