Category Archives: Literature

The Boss of Bards, that is — poet, critic, translator, essayist, educator and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, whose international renown and Shore-guy cred surely make him the Springsteen of verse. (None of which begins to address that time...

Today's Red Bank oRBit takes it down to the Asbury Park Boardwalk, where a special screening of the documentary 'Dream of Life' brings Patti Smith to the stage of the Paramount Theater. There, the punk poet, rock icon and subject...

Where do you go to track the movements of your favorite superstar poets? Why, Red Bank oRBit, natch. Today on our sib site for arts and entertainment info, you'll find a mention of Maya Angelou and her lecture appearance this...

To be sure, his annual arrival on the cultural scene is as reliable as the post-Thanksgiving markdown. But rarely have we seen old Ebenezer Scrooge quite so ubiquitous. The next few days will see not one, not two, but three...

Six days after police in Little Silver arrested a Red Bank man on drug possession charges, they arrested him again Wednesday after finding a loaded pistol and holl-point bullets in his impounded car, the Asbury Park Press reports today. From...

Gilda Rogers in her new coffeehouse/bookstore on Shrewsbury Avenue. Gilda Rogers wants to get conversations started — real conversations, about politics, race, sexuality, whatever it is that divides people. So she's started a new bookstore called Frank Talk Art Bistro...

Adrienne Barbeau, pictured with hubby Billy Van Zandt and her books. The famed "scream queen" turned horror author will appear at a local signing on Thursday. By TOM CHESEK As the archetypal fox of the drive-in and the video store,...

John Astin, haunted by his famously macabre characterizations Gomez Addams and Edgar Allan Poe. The actor visits the area this week for a pair of special appearances. (Recent photo by David Colwell) By TOM CHESEK Who wouldn't want to be...

By TOM CHESEK "I first saw this play when I was 16 years old. It's what ruined my life!" The speaker? Robert Rechnitz, retired educator, author and founder of Red Bank's Two River Theater Company. The show in question? The...

Among the records broken at the Two River Theater in its smash 'Macbeth' run: most students attending one of its plays. Not in the legions Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd In evils to top Macbeth. Well,...

By TOM CHESEK It's not uncommon for a stage troupe to throw some local kids in with a cast of more seasoned professionals whenever the script calls for a couple of young performers. The more hometown kids in the show,...

A review in today's Jersey section of the New York Times of the Two River Theater Co.'s 'Macbeth' takes note of the over-the-top spillage of blood. It's a production, writes reviewer Naomi Siegel, that "oozes, drips and squirts forth a...

Back in business. The hours of operation are, for now, limited — 1 to 5p, Monday through Saturday. There are still lots of loose ends for the staff to attend to as they relocate from temporary facility two doors away....

A refurbished room on the second floor of the library. The room was once a bedroom in the Eisner family home. Months overdue but not over budget, the renovated Red Bank Public Library will reopen at 1p next Tuesday, Borough...

By TOM CHESEK It's the local, live-theater equivalent of a blockbuster movie opening. Illuminated by star power, ablaze with spectacular stage effects and drenched with enough hemoglobin to drown the lamps of Transylvania, "Macbeth" is coming to Red Bank. Shakespeare's...

New computers stand ready for public use. The problematic elevator is in the center background. [PLEASE SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF STORY] The newly remodeled children's room of Red Bank Public Library is bright and colorful, taking cues from the...

The books are out of storage, free of dust and are being returned to their shelves. Now, all that remains is a short punchlist of renovation items, plus the logistics of getting the phones re-installed and the return of books...

Even from the perspective of non-fans of the game, this weekend's baseball show at the Two River Theater looks genuinely fascinating. The program calls for a full and wide-ranging schedule of baseball-themed readings ('Casey at the Bat,' anyone?), movies, speeches...

From beneath layers of paint and grime, a century-and-a-half-old mansion is emerging, soon to be open to the public for the first time in a generation. OK, the 'soon' part is relative, given that the project is a couple of...

By LISA M. McLAUGHLIN ...with voices shouting out how much times have changed, I hear echoes from the past saying much is still the same. From A.D. 19 of 41 by Trebor In Robert Hardy's Red Bank apartment, a framed...