THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES
By Molière
Translated into English Verse by Richard Wilbur
Directed by Mark Wing-Davey
WHERE: Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Ave., Red Bank
WHEN: September 13-October 5, 2014
Two River Theater opens its season with Molière’s classic comedy about a rich, middle-aged bachelor named Arnolphe, whose plan to groom his innocent young ward into the “perfect” wife goes quickly awry. The School for Wives received its first production in 1662, with Molière himself as Arnolphe. One of the world’s funniest playwrights, Molière’s verse plays also include Tartuffe and The Misanthrope.
Director Mark Wing-Davey first came to prominence in the United States with his highly acclaimed 1992 production of Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest at New York Theatre Workshop. Since then he has worked extensively in New York City for NYTW, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and The Public Theater, directing Troilus and Cressida and Henry V in Central Park. Wing-Davey is the Chair of Graduate Acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Also an actor, in June 2012 he embarked on a six-week National UK tour reprising the role he created—Zaphod Beeblebrox—in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Radio Show Live on Stage, playing to thousands of people a night.
CAMELOT
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Directed by David Lee
WHEN: November 15-December 14
Director David Lee (Two River’s critically acclaimed production of Present Laughter and TV’s Frasier, Wings, and Cheers) directs one of the great musicals in the American theater canon, showcasing the youth and vitality of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. Lee’s Broadway-bound revival of Cole Porter’s Can-Can will open the season at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse just prior to Camelot’s run at Two River.
Written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (My Fair Lady, Gigi) in 1960, this timeless love story, based on The Once and Future King by T. H. White, includes “I Loved You Once in Silence” and “If Ever I Would Leave You” and other favorites. Camelot will be performed by an eight-actor ensemble and eight-piece orchestra.
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR AND OTHER ERIC CARLE FAVORITES
Presented by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia
WHEN: December 19-22, 2014
Three beloved stories by Eric Carle (The Mixed-Up Chameleon, Little Cloud, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar) are retold on stage through the magic of evocative music, stunning visual effects, and innovative puppetry. On the road continuously since 1999, the Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (a component of assorted compilations with four other Eric Carle stories) is an imaginative and delightful hour-long production that has delighted audiences in 12 countries. This production is recommended for ages three and up.
ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR
By Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Jessica Stone
WHEN: January 10-February 1, 2015
Press Opening: January 16
A laugh-out-loud look at how three English couples deal with their relationships, social standings, and the pressures of three successive Christmas gatherings. Sir Alan Ayckbourn is an Olivier, Tony, and Molière Award-winning playwright who has written 78 full-length plays. Absurd Person Singular (number 12) had its world premiere in 1972 and is considered one of his greatest works; it holds the record for the single longest run of an Alan Ayckbourn play in both the West End and on Broadway. My Wonderful Day (number 73) charmed audiences at Two River in 2011/12.
Director Jessica Stone has worked as an actor on and Off-Broadway, in television and film, for the last 20 years. Her Broadway credits include Anything Goes with Sutton Foster, Butley with Nathan Lane, and The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Her directing career began with her 2010 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for the Williamstown Theater Festival, which was met with critical acclaim. Her upcoming productions include Christopher Durang’s Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike for The Old Globe and June Moon for Williamstown.
WORLD PREMIERE
GUADALUPE IN THE GUEST ROOM
By Tony Meneses
Directed by Daniella Topol
WHERE: Marion Huber Theater, 21 Bridge Ave., Red Bank
WHEN: February 14-March 15, 2015
This beautiful new play introduces audiences to Guadalupe Castillo, a Mexican woman whose daughter’s untimely death leaves her struggling to connect with her American son-in-law, in a country whose language she barely speaks. Written by the rising young playwright Tony Meneses and directed by Daniella Topol (A Wind in the Willows Christmas at Two River Theater), Guadalupe in the Guest Room is a moving and funny celebration of life, connection, and the unexpected healing power of telenovelas.
Mexican-born playwright Tony Meneses has had work presented in New York, Austin, Chicago, San Diego, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Guadalupe in the Guest Room was part of the 2013 LARK Playwrights’ Week. He is also a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Obie-award winning writing group Youngblood. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop and BA from The University of Texas at Austin.
WORLD PREMIERE
YOUR BLUES AIN’T SWEET LIKE MINE
Written and Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
WHERE: Rechnitz Theater
WHEN: April 11-May 3, 2015
When liberal, Upper West Side resident Judith befriends Zeke, a highly educated yet once-homeless man she meets at a soup kitchen, their fragile hold on history begins to slip. Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (August Wilson’s Seven Guitars) crafts a provocative, daring, and immensely powerful world-premiere drama about race, sacrifice, and legacy.
As a playwright, Santiago-Hudson won an Obie Award and critical acclaim for his solo show Lackawanna Blues, and his screenplay for the HBO adaptation received the Humanitas Prize, Christopher Award, National Board of Review Honors, and NAACP Image Award. His directing credits include Two River’s critically acclaimed productions of August Wilson’s Jitney and Two Trains Running.
A LITTLE SHAKESPEARE:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Adapted and Directed by Jason McDowell-Green
WHERE: Marion Huber Theater
WHEN: April 23-May 1, 2015
Two River’s new “A Little Shakespeare” series launched during the theater’s 20th Anniversary Season with a production of As You Like It. This year, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of Shakespeare’s most famous, magical, and romantic comedies, will be performed by a cast of local high-school students in a 90-minute version adapted and directed by Jason McDowell-Green. The schedule will include both public performances and six student matinees, and will launch on April 23, 2015—Shakespeare’s birthday.
WORLD PREMIERE
BE MORE CHILL
Music and Lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini
Directed by Scott Ellis
WHERE: Rechnitz Theater
WHEN: May 30-June 21, 2015
Two River Theater will conclude its season with a commissioned world-premiere musical by two of the most exciting young voices in the musical theater, Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz, based on the acclaimed 2004 novel by Ned Vizzini (It’s Kind of a Funny Story). Jeremy Heere is just your average dork trying to survive life in his suburban New Jersey high school. When he swallows a pill-sized supercomputer that promises to bring him everything he desires most, he is transformed from complete geek to the coolest guy in class. But is being the most popular guy in school worth the risk?
Joe Iconis (The Black Suits, TV’s Smash) is a musical theater writer and a fixture on the New York cabaret scene. He is the recipient of an Ed Kleban Award, a Jonathan Larson Award, an ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award, and a MAC John Wallowitch Songwriting Award. Joe Tracz’s musical adaptation of the first book in the popular Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief (written with composer Rob Rokicki) will premiere at the Lortel Theatre this summer, then tour nationally with Theatreworks USA. Scott Ellis (Curtains, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) is a six-time Tony Award-nominated director for theater and television.
Plays, artists, dates, and ticket prices are subject to change. For additional information, visit www.tworivertheater.org.
Ticket Information
Season ticket packages (beginning at three plays) are on sale now; prices range from $88.80 to $318.50. Two River Theater offers flexible blocks of tickets that patrons can divide up however they like, with a special discount of 25% off regular ticket prices.
Ticket prices for all productions except The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites and A Little Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream range from $37 to $65, with discounts available for groups, seniors, and U.S. military personnel, their families, and veterans. A limited number of $20 tickets are available for every performance; $20 tickets may be partial view. Tickets for patrons under 30 are $20 and include the best available seats at every performance.
Ticket prices for The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites and A Little Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream are $20 for adults and $15 for children under age 12.
Sponsors and Supporters
Two River Theater is supported in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division within the Department of State and a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Columbus Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Stone Foundation of New Jersey, Monmouth University, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, Durso Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, Monmouth Medical Center Foundation, Wells Fargo, Investors Bank, Brookdale Community College, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, William T. Morris Foundation, Springpoint Senior Living Foundation at the Atrium at Navesink Harbor, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, and many other generous foundations, corporations and individuals.
Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary of creating great American theater performed by award-winning artists. We produce an eight-play season on two stages, including American and world masterpieces, and new plays and musicals. Two River Theater offers new-play commissions and artistic development activities that support the most adventurous artists in the American theater; invites its audience to be part of the creative process through readings and open rehearsals; and cultivates students and young people to participate in innovative arts-education programs and become a new generation of theatergoers. Founded in 1994 by Joan and Dr. Robert M. Rechnitz, Two River Theater is easily accessible by car, train, or bus, with great restaurants and shopping within walking distance of the theater. For more information, visit tworivertheater.org or call 732.345.1400.
