ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS

TWO RIVER THEATER PRODUCES CLASSICS, CONTEMPORARY AND WORLD PREMIERE PLAYS & MUSICALS, AND SUPPORTS THE VOICES, AMBITIONS AND VISIONS OF AMERICA’S LEADING THEATER ARTISTS. Since Two River was established 28 years ago, we have stayed true to our founding principles, even in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, bringing a fresh eye to masterpieces from the European and American canons. We are also committed to the full range of new play development and production. We believe that we are enlivened and enriched by the world’s great classics as reimagined by contemporary artists, and that the American theater is truer, richer, deeper and more reflective of who we are as a culture if it includes new work.

Since its founding, Two River has PREMIERED 18 original plays and musicals; COMMISSIONED original projects including Be More Chill by Tony Award nominee Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz (the theater’s first Broadway and West End production) and Hurricane Diane by Playwright-in Residence Madeleine George (which enjoyed an Obie Award-winning Off Broadway run); and DEVELOPED numerous other plays and musicals.

WE ARE SUPPORTING NEW PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT by commissioned writers including Jessica Hagedorn, who is writing a musical based on the all-female band from the 1970s, Fanny, to be directed by May Adrales. Two River Theater commissioned writers include: Ngozi Anyanwu, Jaclyn Backhaus, Matt Barbot, Lisa Kron, and Eliana Pipes as well as the writing team of Joe Tracz and Joe Iconis. This year we were pleased to welcome Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, James Ijames, to our esteemed roster of commissioned playwrights.

THE 10TH ANNUAL CROSSING BORDERS (CRUZANDO FRONTERAS) FESTIVAL RETURNED

after a year away for an entirely virtual festival with José Zayas curating for the second time. The festival featured four plays by Nick Malakhow, Francisco Mendoza, Paz Pardo and juliany f. taveras. The plays featured in this year’s festival received an extended rehearsal period to develop and sharpen the work. All four plays were released online to the public in September of 2021 and were completely free of charge.

Two River held its first ever NEW WORK WEEKEND Eight artistic leaders from theaters around the country were invited to spend an all-expenses paid weekend in Red Bank to celebrate some of the new plays that Two River is championing. Featured readings included: Living & Breathing by Mando Alvarado, directed by Rebecca Martínez; Two River Theater commission, Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ben Steinfeld, directed by Rebecca Martínez; and The River in the Sky by Reyna Perez (a former Voices of Hope writer), directed by José Zayas. The weekend ended with all the guests seeing The Hombres by Tony Meneses, directed by Annie Tippe, in our Marion Huber Theater.

Two River continued our RADIO PLAYS series, which brings a different kind of theater to our patrons, one that can be safely enjoyed from the comfort of their own homes. We commissioned playwrights David Greenspan, Kimber Lee and Nilo Cruz to write plays that were meant to be listened to, rather than experienced in a physical space. The second of these plays, Kimber Lee’s antarctica, premiered in December of 2021.