The Castle Will Make Screen Debut in 2010

By Adam Hetrick
November 30, 2009

The Castle, the Off-Broadway production that featured true-life stories of incarcerated individuals, is being produced as a film by Martin Feinberg and Eric Krebs.

Original Off-Broadway cast members Vilma Ortiz Donovan, Kenneth Harrington, Angel Ramos and Casimiro Torres, who shared their personal stories of life in prison and beyond, will repeat their work for the film. Phillip Messina ("With Friends Like These") will direct.

David Rothenberg conceived and originally directed the Off-Broadway run, which concluded May 23, 2009 at New World Stages.

Portions of The Castle, which begins shooting Dec. 7, will be filmed before convicts at a New York correctional facility. The film will debut at festivals across the U.S. in 2010.

Since its Off-Broadway engagement, the production has played special performances for inmates at Rikers Island, as well as for New York State legislators in Albany. Eric Krebs and Chase Mishkin produced the Off-Broadway run.

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For over 40 years the Fortune Society has been developing model programs that help former prisoners successfully re-enter their communities. The Castle serves as the Fortune Society's resident program for 60 men and women.

Inspired by the 1967 Off-Broadway prison drama, Fortune in Men's Eyes, the Fortune Society was founded by former theatre publicist David Rothenberg. Among the services offered are supportive housing, career development, job retention, substance abuse treatment, alternatives to incarceration, HIV/AIDS services, education, family services and drop-in services as well as ongoing access to aftercare.