(RED BANK, NJ) -- Two River Theater's 2017 Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival will take place August 2, 2017 - August 6 in Red Bank. The annual festival is a five-day celebration of new plays by Latino writers.  All readers and events are free and open to the public.  The festival kicks off on August 2 at 5:30pm with a neighborhood party on the Two River Plaza, offering an opportunity to meet the artists involved in the festival and enjoy food and live music. Then at 7:00pm there is a lecture on the Sol Project and Latinx Theater by Jacob G. Padrón.

Since Crossing Borders launched in 2011, the annual five-day festival has featured free readings of more than two dozen plays, including many that have gone on to full productions at Two River (Pinkolandia, Ropes and next season’s El CoquÍ Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom) and elsewhere. Today, it attracts more than 700 people annually and includes English-language readings of four plays (one of which is also read in Spanish), conversations with artists following every reading, a keynote address from a leader within the Latino arts community, and a free outdoor neighborhood party with live music.

The festival has been expanded this year to include a community mural project! In conjunction with Indie Street Film Festival and Kitch Organic, Crossing Borders festival artists along with community leaders and 20 local youth worked together to paint a beautifuli mural on the wall of Kitch Organic, on the West Side of Red Bank.

Crossing Borders is curated by Stephanie Ybarra, who serves as the Director of Special Artistic Projects at The Public Theater in New York, where she leads the Mobile Unit and Public Forum programs.

All events are free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged; patrons should contact the Two River Theater Box Office at 732.345.1400 or go online. 

Here's a look at the free play readings held throughout the festival:

Thursday, August 3 at 7:30pm
EL By Raúl Garza; Directed by Michelle Bossy
Emi and Gus are siblings living with their mother in Chicago. Emi is writing a novel about her family, but her desire to tell a good story means she risks exposing their long-buried secrets. Gus is working in a butcher shop with only the wisecracking cow head to talk to, eager to get out. Each of them is caught between the past and the future in this funny, moving new play about how telling your story isn’t always telling your truth.

Friday, August 4 at 7:30pm
AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF A BODY OF WATER By Benjamin Benne
Marina has led a reclusive existence with only her daughter’s ghost to keep her company. But when her ritual meal of catfish soup is disrupted by the disappearance of her fishmonger, she can no longer swim in the routine circles of her solitary life. She embarks on a search for connection that takes her into surreal territory where paper cranes take flight, the sky and sea are inverted, and travel to the ocean floor is possible.

Saturday, August 5 at 12:00pm
BLANCAFLOR By Cecilia Cackley; Translated into Spanish by Ártemis López
The Crossing Border festival’s first play for children, Blancaflor is a charming new adaptation of a traditional Spanish and Latin American fairytale. In it, a prince must embark on a quest to save the life of his father. Faced with one impossible task after another, he is sure of failure until a mysterious woman, Blancaflor, appears to offer help. Will he and Blancaflor win the day?

Saturday, August 5 at 7:30pm
EL HURACÁN By Charise Castro Smith; Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
In 1992 Miami, while a family rushes to secure itself against the oncoming Hurricane Andrew, its matriarch finds herself trapped within memories that threaten to carry her out into the rain. Thirty years later, as Miami grapples with rising tides, the family again finds themselves swept together for a final chance at reconciliation. A modern-day nod to The Tempest, Charise Castro Smith’s new play touches upon magic, exile, and the storms that rage within families.

Sunday, August 6 at 3:00pm
THE GOLEM OF HAVANA: A NEW MUSICAL
Music by Salomon Lerner; Lyrics by Len Schiff; Book and Direction by Michel Hausmann
The Golem of Havana tells the story of a Hungarian-Jewish family living in Batista’s Havana on the brink of the Cuban Revolution. When their maid’s son, a guerrilla fighter, is injured, they must choose between protecting him and guarding their first fragile grasp on prosperity since their arrival. The Golem of Havana weaves together the music and traditions of two worlds, asking questions about family, community, religion, and politics.