A special performance of CAMELOT on December 13, captioned for Spanish-speaking audience members, is among a slate of free events designed for Monmouth County’s Latino community at Two River Theater. (Photo by T.C. Erickson)
Press release from Two River Theater Company
Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, has announced a series of free events and productions for Monmouth County’s Latino community and Spanish-speaking audiences throughout the month of December. Tickets to the three events on December 13 and 21 are free of charge to Latino and Spanish-speaking patrons.
The special schedule begins with a free event presented under the name Nosotros: A Community Gathering and Sharing of Stories. Hosted inside Two River’s Marion Huber Theater on the afternoon of Saturday, December 13, the 4 pm event is hosted by playwright Tanya Saracho (a writer for television’s Looking and Girls) and Jerry Ruiz (director of Two River’s annual Crossing Borders festival of new Latino plays), as part of a project in which they will collaborate with Two River on creating an original play inspired by Monmouth County’s Latino community.
Saracho and Ruiz invite members of the community to share stories from their lives at the gathering, with no theatrical or public speaking experience necessary to participate. For more information or to reserve a spot, patrons should call (732)345-1400 (English) or (732)936-8843 (Spanish).
There’s more in store this month at Two River — including specially captioned performances of Two River Theater Company‘s current musical production Camelot, and this year’s upcoming all-ages family show.
Adapted by director David Lee from the classic Broadway musical by Lerner and Loewe, Camelot will present an 8 pm performance on December 13, during which all words and lyrics of the play will be translated into Spanish via a screen visible to the audience. Patrons should use the code “Spanish captions” when booking tickets for this performance.
On Saturday, December 20, Two River will present a special edition of its annual Día de la Familia event — a first-ever Spanish language performance of the holiday family show, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites. Retold on stage through the magic of evocative music, stunning visual effects and innovative puppetry in just one hour, families will see three beloved stories by Eric Carle—The Mixed-Up Chameleon, Little Cloud and The Very Hungry Caterpillar — as brought to vivid life through the puppetry and performance art of Nova Scotia’s Mermaid Theatre company. This special free performance will begin at 4 pm with kids’ arts and crafts and a hot chocolate station prior to the 4:30 pm Spanish language performance.
Two River’s outreach to the Latino community is supported by a generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Building Demand for the Arts Program. Numerous community partners are working with Two River to support this initiative, including Dr. Ann Bagchi, Chair of the Latino Coalition Health Committee; Casa Freehold; Abraham López, Director, NJ Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development; Literacy Volunteers of Monmouth County; Isabel Lopez, Family Social Worker at Monmouth Day Care Center; Marisol Mondaca, Latina Girls Group, The Source; Richard Morales-Wright, Director, Equal Opportunity Fund, Brookdale College; David Prown; Luis Rodriguez, Monmouth County Latino Chamber of Commerce, and St. Anthony’s Church. For information about how to join Two River as a community partner, contact Stephanie Coen at [email protected] or (732)936-8829.
