Flaco Navaja, photo by Yurik Lozano

(RED BANK, NJ ) -- Two River Theater's highly acclaimed Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival of new plays by Latine playwrights is set to run Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4 in Two River's Joan and Robert M. Rechnitz Theater. In its 13th year, the festival is the theater's annual joyful celebration of the power, diversity, creativity and talent of Latine theater artists. All festival events are free to the public.

The festival features four readings of plays by thrilling contemporary artists exploring family, love, loss, time, the tension in a NFL locker room and more. Capping off the festivities is a blast of summer fun with Flaco Navaja and the Razor Blades, back after their rousing 2019 Crossing Borders performance, blending infectious salsa with heartfelt spoken word. The festival kicks off with a community event on Thursday, August 1 from 5:00pm-7:00pm on Two River’s Plaza, with live music from local musicians, information tables helmed by Two River’s community partners, and delicious eats from neighborhood restaurants.

"This year's festival is another sensational line up showcasing the wide range of stories celebrating the enormous talent and breadth of storytellers in the Latine community,” raves the festival’s award-winning curator, José Zayas. “Moving, stirring, raucous, passionate, magical and absolutely unexpected, these playwrights take great risks and take on the hilarities and complexities of our election process, themes of grief and loss, dementia and its effects on a family, sports and masculinity, and the breathtaking intricacies of a mother's first love filtered through the lens of her son.”

Zayas continued, “It is always with a great sense of joy that I invite the Two River audience to share these stories with us and to participate in the development of these new works by some of our greatest up and coming contemporary writers.”

FREE TICKETS/ACCESS - To register for all festival events, click here.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Thursday, August 1 at 5:00pm: Community Kick-Off Celebration. Live music on the plaza with food, fun, and feasting!

Thursday, August 1 at 7:00pm: that drive thru monterey by Matthew Paul Olmos. Is Monterey living her life in 1971, pursuing a nursing degree and discovering a tender first romance? Or is it all something that she’s remembering? Inspired by the playwright's mother, that drive through monterey is a touching and fresh memory play that blurs the line between what will be and what was.

Friday, August 2 at 7:00pm: Saturday Mourning Cartoons by Iraisa Ann Reilly. Surrounded by sofas and lingering grief, nurse Jessica struggles to help her mother Marta care for her ailing grandmother in early 2020. Over the course of a year’s worth of holidays, this family finds their way back together through Batman cartoons, Snapple facts, loads of furniture priced to move, and a lot of love.  

Saturday, August 3 at 2:00pm: The Ice Bath by Juan José Alfonso. The locker room is a tough place for an NFL kicker—the guy on the team who scores the most points and gets the least respect. It’s even tougher when the only guy who gets what you’re going through is the person doggedly competing for the one spot on the team. Who’s going to come out on top: Buck, the homegrown hero who was born to play this sport? Or Tomás, a former fútbol player looking for his shot at redemption? 

Saturday, August 3 at 8:00pm: Flaco Navaja and The Razor Blades. A rousing salsa-fusion concert in the Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater! Flaco Navaja is a Bronx-born poet, actor, singer. Renowned for his captivating spoken word/Salsa music performances, he blends his Puerto Rican heritage with urban influences. Currently based in Chicago, Navaja's poetry is powerful and emotive, reflecting personal experiences and cultural pride. He has appeared in films, television shows, and stage productions, showcasing his versatility as an actor. His work in music includes singing with a soulful style that complements his poetry. Navaja's dynamic presence and multi-faceted talent have made him a significant figure in the arts, resonating with diverse audiences, leading to multiple collaborations with Lin Manuel Miranda.

Sunday, August 4 at 2:00pm: The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote by Bernardo Cubría. Breaking assumptions as she breaks the fourth wall, academic Paola takes a political consulting job for THE political party (the one you’re thinking of, not the bad one, the good one, yeah that one…) to try and win over the Latino vote before the Big Election. The money’s great— as she has fertility treatments to finance, but— maybe all this chaos just isn’t worth the paycheck. 

Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) is an annual celebration of new plays and music by Latine theater artists. Since Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) launched in 2011, seven productions developed in the festival have gone on to mainstage productions at the theater, including Living & Breathing by Mando Alvarado, A Thousand Maids by Tony Meneses and the upcoming 2024/2025 season production of ¡VOS!, written by Christina Pumariega.

PARTNERS

Project Write Now is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit transforming individuals, organizations, and communities through writing. Since 2014, they’ve been committed to building a vibrant writing community for youth and adults. They provide a wide range of fee-based classes, editorial services, and literary events. At the heart of their mission, their community outreach programs empower youth and adults to develop essential writing and communication skills—fostering resilience, encouraging personal growth, and supporting academic or professional success.

coLAB Arts engages artists, social advocates, and communities to create transformative new work. coLAB Arts facilitates creative conversation through innovative programs and artist infrastructure, connects artists with community partners and mentors, and executes productions that challenge perceptions and inspire action. coLAB Arts creates community-powered projects in diverse spaces such as community rooms, houses of worship, and backyards, emphasizing artistic expression as civic engagement and collaboration across socio-economic, ethnic, and generational lines. They have partnered with Count Basie Center for the Arts and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey on storytelling workshops and public events, and launched a social practice training program with ArtYard, focusing on veterans' oral histories. Their recent projects include two murals in New Brunswick, a verbatim theater production based on an 18-hour oral history, a community garden beautification, and a comic book based on local gardeners' stories. Through these initiatives, coLAB Arts engages communities to ask questions, develop relationships, and create new work.

SPONSORSHIP - The Crossing Borders (Cruzando Fronteras) Festival is supported by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. Two River Theater’s 2024/25 Season Sponsor is Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center.

Two River Theater is supported by public support through the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners. Private support includes Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, Investors Foundation, Jersey Shore Family Law, The Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Manasquan Bank Charitable Foundation, Monmouth University, Springpoint Senior Living Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Triumph Brewing Company, Visiting Nurse Association of NJ Health Group, Zynergy Retirement Planning, and other generous funders. 

Two River Theater produces American and world classics, new plays and musicals, programs for young people, and festivals of new work. Each year, we serve over 20,000 students, families and community members through our 4-6 show season, and 40+ events that reflect our diverse community of Monmouth County. Two River produces work on two stages—the 350-seat Joan and Robert Rechnitz Theater, and the flexible 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. In 2020 we expanded our campus to 80,000 square feet with the opening of the Center for New Work, Education and Design. 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 former Playwright-in-Residence Madeleine George (which won an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway run), and  in June 2019, Two River was nationally recognized by USA TODAY as one of “10 great places to see a play.”

Two River Theater is led by Artistic Director Justin Waldman and Managing Director Nora DeVeau-Rosen.