(RED BANK, NJ) --– Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, has announced the lineup of productions for its 2021-22 Season. The season includes works by Anton Chekhov (with a translation by Madeleine George), August Wilson, and Tony Meneses. It opens with Wilson's Radio Golf in November. One additional show will be announced later.
“Two River has invested in some spectacularly talented artists over the years," said Artistic Director John Dias. This upcoming season is filled with some favorites and they’ve been champing at the bit for many months now. Playwright Madeleine George and director Sara Holdren are ready to dance with Chekhov in their reimagined Three Sisters; director Brandon Dirden extends his odyssey through the world of August Wilson with Radio Golf; and playwright Tony Meneses returns home to Red Bank with an intimate and hilarious portrait of machismo culture in The Hombres, directed by Annie Tippe.”
"This year, as we announce our upcoming season, we have much to reflect upon, to be thankful for, and to get excited about! All of us at Two River Theater look forward to welcoming audiences and world-class theater artists once again to experience the joy of live theater. The 2021/2022 season also marks the culmination of John Dias’ tenure as Artistic Director—twelve years of celebrating great classics, championing new artists, promoting diversity and expanding the reach and reputation of Two River Theater”, says Managing Director Michael Hurst.
2021/2022 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES
November 6-21, 2021 - August Wilson’s Radio Golf; directed by Obie Award winner Brandon J. Dirden. Rechnitz Theater. Radio Golf returns under the direction of Obie Award winner Brandon J. Dirden (Two River’s King Hedley II, Seven Guitars) and much of the original cast from March of 2020! Real-estate developer Harmond Wilks is determined to become the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh, and to revitalize the Hill District. Starbucks, Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods are ready to move in. But one particular house on the development site, at 1839 Wylie Avenue, must be torn down, a casualty of urban blight. And that house belonged to Wilson’s legendary Aunt Ester—forcing Harmond, and the Hill District itself, into a battle between the past and the future.
January 15–February 6, 2022 - Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, translated by Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George; directed by Sara Holdren. Rechnitz Theater. Two River Theater playwright-in-residence Madeleine George (Two River’s Hurricane Diane, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England) collaborates with director Sara Holdren (Two River’s Twelfth Night) to create a new translation of Chekhov’s classic play about big souls trapped in tiny boxes. Set in the Russian countryside at the turn of the 20th century, sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina dream of futures in the wake of their father’s death and a changing Russia.
March 12–April 10, 2022 -- World Premiere of The Hombres by Tony Meneses; directed by Annie Tippe. Marion Huber Theater. This new play by Tony Meneses (The Women of Padilla, Guadalupe in the Guest Room) is a fresh and nuanced look at the complexity and intimacy of male friendship. Set in New Jersey (“somewhere off the NJ Transit line”), the play follows Julián, a gay Latino yoga teacher, as he clashes with the straight and macho Latino construction workers outside his studio—particularly the older head of the crew, Héctor, who seeks from Julián something he never expected. Annie Tippe (Lortel award-winning Octet) to direct.
Two River co-commissioned and developed The Hombres with the NJPAC Stage Exchange, a program of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and through a reading at Two River’s 2018 Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) festival of plays and music by Latinx artists.
June 4–26, 2022 - SUBSCRIPTION SHOW #4: TBA. Rechnitz Theater. The season's final show on the Rechnitz Stage will be announced soon.
Season subscriptions on sale now by calling 732.345.1400 or by visiting their Box Office at 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank. Single tickets on sale October 4.
YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAM
May 6–15, 2022 - A LITTLE SHAKESPEARE: TITLE TBA By William Shakespeare. Marion Huber Theater. Now in its ninth season as one of Two River’s most popular programs, A Little Shakespeare introduces the works of Shakespeare to hundreds of young people each year. Through this program, Two River produces a 75-minute abridged version of a Shakespeare play, performed and supported backstage by high school students, and directed and designed by theater professionals.
TICKET INFORMATION: Season subscriptions on sale now by calling 732.345.1400 or by visiting the Box Office at 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank. Single tickets on sale October 4.
Plays, artists, dates, and ticket prices are subject to change.
HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS - Two River Theater is continuing to monitor the evolving situation regarding Covid-19. Requirements and recommendations surrounding mask wearing, proof of vaccination and/or negative Covid tests are all being considered for the upcoming season and will be communicated to ticket holders closer to the performance date.
The safety of Two River Theater’s patrons, staff and artists is of the utmost importance. Two River Theater’s reopening safety plans have been created using CDC, state and local government mandated practices, in consultation with medical professionals through Keeping America Safe: Hackensack Meridian Health’s Assist Program and Intelligent Crowd Solutions. For more information regarding health and safety protocols for each performance visit tworivertheater.org.
SPONSORSHIP: Two River Theater’s 2021/22 Season Sponsor is Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center.
Two River Theater is supported in part by public support through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Private support includes Bank of America, Mary Owen Borden Foundation, Denholtz Properties, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Helen Clay Frick Foundation, The Merrill G. and Emita E. Hastings Foundation, Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, Investors Foundation, Jewish Communal Fund, Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Manasquan Bank Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William T. Morris Foundation, OceanFirst Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Zager Fuchs, PC, and many other generous foundations, corporations and individuals.
Two River Theater produces a theatrical season that includes American and world classics, new plays and musicals, programs for young people, and festivals of new work. Each year, we also offer 40+ events that reflect our diverse community of Red Bank, New Jersey. Two River produces work on two stages—the 350-seat Rechnitz Theater, and the flexible 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. The theater’s recently opened Center for New Work, Education and Design is a three-story facility that includes two rehearsal studios, artist labs, classrooms, expanded shops and centrally located offices. Two River Theater has commissioned and premiered original projects including Be More Chill by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz (the theater’s first Broadway production) and Hurricane Diane by Playwright-in-Residence Madeleine George (which won an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway run). In June 2019, Two River was nationally recognized by USA TODAY as one of “10 great places to see a play” across the U.S. Two River serves thousands of students and community members through arts and humanities programs at the theater, in schools and throughout its region. Two River Theater is led by Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst.
