Annual 'Crossing Borders' Festival Sets Return To Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — Two River Theater’s Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival of new plays by Latine playwrights is set to return to Red Bank on July 31 and run through Aug. 3 in the Joan & Robert M. Rechnitz Theater.

Now in its 14th year, this annual event showcases the richness, diversity, creativity and talent of Latine theater artists. All festival events are open and free to the public.

“This year's festival showcases four returning writers all working at the top of their game and crafting deeply compelling stories about our current moment,” said José Zayas, the festival’s award-winning curator. “We get to travel from Miami to California and from Atlantic City to spaces deep in the collective imagination of our country as we watch these beautifully drawn characters connect with the world around them in captivating and surprising ways.”

The plays range from a “delightfully raunchy and politically savvy” adaptation of the classic Noel Coward play Private Lives to a haunting play about a mother and daughter preparing for the disasters of the world, only to find that the biggest disasters are the ones closest to home, Zayas continued.

“From a bittersweet exploration of a young friendship destroyed by class and time, all told through the creation of a new comic book hero, to a madcap and hallucinatory journey into the world of casinos and beauty pageants,” Zayas said.

“These are bold, funny and thrillingly imaginative stories full of joy and hope," Zayas continued. "It is my pleasure to once again invite our audiences to experience the work of these wonderful writers and to be part of the development of these new plays.”

coLAB Arts, a partner on the festival for the past few years, will lead the mural project for the duration of the festival, which focuses on the strong ties between the festival’s mission and its audience.

The festival schedule is as follows:

Thursday, July 31 (5 p.m.)

• Community Kick-Off Celebration
• Live music on the plaza with food, fun, and feasting!

Thursday, July 31 (7 p.m.)

• The Myth of the Two Marcos, by Tony Meneses, directed by José Zayas
• When Marco meets Marco in 1997 Albuquerque, an unlikely friendship begins between two boys with the same name but vastly different personalities and outlooks on life. When they discover a mutual love of comic books, the local comic shop becomes a sanctuary for both teens as they’re introduced to an Aztec superhero who becomes their guide through a time long forgotten.

Friday, Aug. 1 (5:30 p.m.)
STORIES FROM THE HEART
A One-of-a-Kind Sharing

• Throughout the school year, Red Bank Middle School's 7th and 8th grade AVID [Advancement Via Individual Determination] students have been crafting original pieces in weekly writing sessions with Project Write Now. A new addition to the Festival, this thrilling showcase will feature poems, stories, and all-around love from these young storytellers. This is your chance to hear the words and voices of our incredible neighbors!

Friday, Aug. 1 (7 p.m.)

• Miss America Pretty, by Iraisa Ann Reilly, directed by José Zayas
• Who wants to be Miss America when you could have the whole Universe? Cristina is an Atlantic City casino worker living in the shadow of generations of pageant queens. With a scholarship and a better future for her family hanging in the balance, Cristina has one glamorous chance to prove that she deserves the crown. Steeped in memory and surrealism, Miss America Pretty examines conformity, grief, and how far we’ll go to reinvent ourselves for the sake of systems that exclude us.

Saturday, Aug. 2 (2 p.m.)

• Disaster Preparedness, by Eliana Pipes, directed by Taylor Reynolds
• Mitigation. Preparedness. Response. Recovery. Mama and Honey like to be ready for anything. When Mama comes face to face with the Ghost of her own mother and Honey begins to think about moving on, the two women start to question their strategies. Exploring motherhood and caretaking, the third play in Pipes’ New America Cycle reminds us that there are some disasters we’ll never see coming.

Saturday, Aug. 2 (8 p.m.)

• Performance from Xol Azul Band, a five-piece band formed in 2002 with its original lineup led by singer and bassist Gidalthi Guillen, guitarist Gil Cruz, keyboardist Fabian Rojas, percussionist Javier Medel and drummer Susu Leon. Their sound represents the new Latin rock breed, singing in Spanish/English. With their CD “Sale el Xol,” XAB has captured American and Hispanic music lovers of all sorts.

Sunday, Aug. 3 (2 p.m.)

• Vidas Privadas, by Christina Pumariega, directed by Eddie Torres
• Celia loves Clayton. America loves Cesar. Divorcees Celia and Cesar (still) love each other. But when they all honeymoon in adjacent hotel rooms in Ibiza, the café hits the fan. Hearts and tempers flare, rocketing from old world to the new, from passion to politics in a no-holds-barred immigrant debate where Cesar and Celia ask if change is actually possible. A fresh, funny, Cuban reinvention of Noël Coward’s Private Lives.

To register for festival events or learn more, you can visit the Two River Theater website.

Two River Theater is located at 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank.