(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- Crossroads Theatre Company presents VANGUARDS from May 23 - June 1, 2025. This is a celebration of some of the most treasured works from their archive with contemporary voices of today and new plays that reflect the promise of tomorrow. VANGUARDS features works by Ntozake Shange, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, James Anthony Tyler and Silma Sierra Berrada.
The common thread is that these works and artists found a home at Crossroads and have inspired the next generation of storytellers. The featured works include excerpts from classic works and new original plays that have origins on their stages.
Directed by Ricardo Khan, works include Pearls by Silma Sierra Berrada (Winner of The Crossroads Genesis Prize for Playwriting Excellence); Two Haha's and a Homeboy by Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis; for colored girls......by Ntozake Shange; and hop tha A by James Anthony Tyler.
Performances take place Friday, May 23 at 7:00pm; Saturday, May 24 at 2:00pm; Sunday, May 25 at 3:00pm; Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00pm; Wednesday, May 28 at 7:00pm; Thursday, May 29 at 7:00pm; Friday, May 30 at 7:00pm; Saturday, May 31 at 2:00pm; and Sunday, June 1 at 3:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the NBPAC Box Office at 732-745-8000. The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center is located at 11 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The Crossroads Theatre Company (CTC) was founded in 1978 by Ricardo Khan (Founding Artistic Director) and L. Kenneth Richardson. Initial funding was provided by the CETA Program, Johnson & Johnson, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJ State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. The vision of its founders was based on the belief that Black Theater is intended for a broad base diverse audience; a mission which was fulfilled.
As a major force in the development of new ideas and the introduction of formally marginalized writers, Crossroads brought works that challenged thee notion that only one class or group of people could be represented on the American stage. Prior to the company’s emergence in 1978, rarely could there have been found dignified opportunities for artists of color to explore and practice their craft in the professional theater.
In recognition of its success Crossroads was presented with the prestigious Tony Award in 1999 as the “outstanding regional theatre in America.” This marked the first time that a predominantly black theater company had earned this award. Crossroads remains to only culturally specific regional theater to have this honor.
Though founded with the intention to explore the African Diaspora it was eventually realized that Crossroads had become central to the depiction of global interaction with the other cultures in the world. As such the “new” Crossroads sought to reach beyond the borders of face and geography, to a place where theatrical enterprise could mine the rich aesthetics and folklores of the world stage.
